Challenging your Mindset
Challenging your Mindset
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The challenge and opportunity:
The challenge and opportunity:
“This just isn’t how I—or my students—were taught to think about chemistry.”
“This just isn’t how I—or my students—were taught to think about chemistry.”
Both educators and students may feel that systems thinking is too different from traditional ways of teaching and learning chemistry. It is counterintuitive to the reductive method of learning that uses linear and isolated approaches.
Changing this perspective requires effort and time, which can be uncomfortable for teacher and student. However, focusing on the application of systems thinking to solving real-world problems engages students and provides purpose and context.
practical Strategies for Instructors
practical Strategies for Instructors
1. Acknowledge the learning curve
Be transparent with students (and yourself) that systems thinking takes time and is a different but an important approach to learning chemistry.
2. Start small
Integrate systems thinking gradually—begin with low-stakes, exploratory activities that introduce systems thinking concepts without overwhelming students or staff.
3. Communicate the why
Explicitly explain the purpose and benefits of systems thinking for real-world problem-solving and sustainability.
4. Model the mindset
Demonstrate interdisciplinary and systems-based reasoning in your teaching to normalize this perspective.
5. Build confidence over time
Use small successes to shift beliefs—both your own and your students’—about what chemistry can look like.
What Research says
What Research says
Jackson and Hurst (2021)
These authors reported that although systems thinking was seen as challenging, it is comparable to any other curricular change, as any new implementation requires time, effort, and acceptance from other staff members.
Jackson, A.; Hurst, G. A. Faculty Perspectives Regarding the Integration of Systems Thinking into Chemistry Education. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2021, 22 (4), 855–865. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1rp00078k.
Szozda et al (2022)
This study revealed that educators with more experience with a systems thinking approach perceive fewer or a less extent of barriers to systems thinking implementation than educators with less experience with a systems thinking approach. Thus, over time, experience may change other instructors’ beliefs and mindsets about systems thinking.
Szozda, A. R.; Bruyere, K.; Lee, H.; Mahaffy, P. G.; Flynn, A. B. Investigating Educators’ Perspectives toward Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education from International Contexts. J. Chem. Educ. 2022, 99 (7), 2474–2483. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00138.
York and Orgill (2024)
This research reveals that holistic and interdisciplinary ways of thinking about chemical systems may be new and initially uncomfortable for students, especially when the benefits or motivations to learn via a systems thinking approach are not well communicated.
Therefore, slow integration of systems thinking is necessary for students to shift their mindsets and the benefits of systems thinking need to be communicated clearly.
York, S.; Orgill, M. Experienced Tertiary Instructors’ Perceptions of the Benefits and Challenges of Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education. J. Chem. Educ. 2024, 101 (1), 10–23. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01000.
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