<![CDATA[Complex environmental problems require systems thinking, yet this competence remains insufficiently developed in biology education. This study investigates how simulation-based learning supported by Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs) helps undergraduate students understand social–ecological systems in a conservation context. A classroom-based intervention involving seven biology education students combined field observation, simulation exploration, collaborative discussion, digital representation, and reflection. During the intervention, students manipulated variables such as habitat quality, environmental temperature, community participation, mortality rate, and bird population to examine system dynamics in Bali Starling conservation. Data were collected from reflective writings, group discussions, interviews, digital artifacts, and a structured rubric, and were analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Students showed a shift from reductionist reasoning toward more integrated systems thinking. Their performance was stronger in scientific communication and interpretation of interdependencies among variables, while higher-order competencies, particularly trade-off evaluation and socio-ecological awareness, were less consistently developed. These results suggest that context-rich simulation and culturally situated computational approaches can support systems thinking in conservation and sustainability education, provided that additional scaffolding is used to strengthen advanced evaluative reasoning.]]>
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