The paper examines how the use of hybrid models--that consist of the interacting continuous and discrete processes--may assist in teaching system thinking. We report an experiment in which undergraduate students were asked to choose between a hybrid and a continuous solution for a number of control problems. A correlation has been found between the preference of hybrid models and a low system thinking ability. We discuss the meaning of the results in terms of the state diagram notation, and link them with moral reasoning and the new socio-technological reality created in the digital age. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)