Systems-level thinking and analysis, where a problem is viewed broadly as a whole rather than as its parts, is a necessary skill when attempting to solve systemic problems; one, however, which students can struggle with. One way to support students' systems thinking is to scaffold understanding of feedback loops, systems where an initial action occurs and the subsequent output either amplifies or diminishes that initial input. Feedback loops are a foundational and transdisciplinary concept seen across academic disciplines, including Earth sciences and the social sciences. By identifying what kind of feedback loop is present in a system and whether its outcome is desirable, students can identify potential points of intervention – so-called "leverage points" (Meadows, 1999) – to alter or interrupt the loop. We designed multiple undergraduate assignments aimed to help students identify, analyze, and alter feedback loops. One assignment, an analogical reasoning assignment, used mutual alignment of feedback loops from different disciplines to highlight the basic components and structure of a feedback loop. This was designed to teach students about the basic differences in positive and negative feedback loops and dispel the notion that positive/negative refers to the desirable/undesirable outcomes. In a follow-up essay assignment, students were asked to identify and alter an existing feedback loop utilizing Meadows' leverage points. To assess these assignments, we developed qualitative coding frameworks for analysis of both assignments. Students aligned systems by focusing on four aspects: behavior, structure, outcome, and discipline. The framework for assessment of the essay assignment focused on causal statements, change statements, and interconnectedness. Analysis of essays after explicitly teaching feedback loop thinking found greater use of terminology related to interconnectedness. These frameworks offer educators guidance on how to design assignments that strategically target understanding feedback loops.