Experiential Learning To Promote Systems Thinking in Chemistry: Evaluating and Designing Sustainable Products in a Polymer Immersion Lab

Abstract

The integrated application of green chemistry, life cycle thinking, and systems thinking has the potential to reduce environmental impacts related to the use and production of chemical products or materials. Life cycle and systems thinking are key perspectives needed to avoid the unintended consequences or unsubstantiated claims that inhibit development and adoption of more sustainable products. However, systems thinking is rarely taught in the chemistry curriculum. Students need experience evaluating the effects of products on societal and earth systems (i.e., using systems thinking) in order to anticipate trade-offs and make informed design decisions. To give students an immersive learning experience, we developed a sustainable product design project that brings together tools from green chemistry, life cycle thinking, and systems thinking. We found that this experiential learning approach gave students generalizable strategies for innovating and implementing sustainable practices in their current industrial positions. The project was divided into three workshops: in Workshop I they evaluated the life cycle impacts and toxicity for a material of concern, in Workshop II they measured the performance of this material and compared it to alternatives, and in Workshop III they designed a mock-product that was both high performing and environmentally friendly. We piloted this framework with master’s students evaluating polymer foams for use in an infant car seat; however, we envision this project being suitable for a range of other types of products. Moreover, we have suggested ways to adapt the duration and sophistication of the workshops to make them appropriate for a variety of course levels.

Faculty perspectives regarding the integration of systems thinking into chemistry education

“…This special issue considered several perspectives for implementing systems thinking into chemistry education. These include: an overall introduction (Orgill et al, 2019), the challenges and opportunities of implementing systems thinking into chemistry education (Constable et al, 2019;Pazicni and Flynn, 2019), how it can be used in green chemistry (Hutchison, 2019;Ginzburg et al, 2019;Perosa et al, 2019), and ideas for future development/research (Flynn et al, 2019).…”

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Redefining Sustainable Polymers

“…While excellent LCA work is difficult, it remains the best tool available to provide a more realistic picture of each polymer’s environmental impact. This systems thinking perspective is integral to achieving sustainable development and is often evoked to teach sustainability, including in polymer chemistry education. − More polymer scientists should include LCAs in their research agenda or collaborate with the appropriate experts. A low-cost option for initial exploration would be a package such as OpenLCA, which can be coupled with freely available databases.…”

Supporting the Relevance of Chemistry Education through Sustainable Ionic Liquids Context: A Research-Based Design Approach

“…The medium for fostering a more comprehensive perspective can be anything from smaller lab experiments to open-ended projects [18]. Even though this research is conducted in the context of sustainable chemistry education, we do not directly address systems thinking which is linked to sustainability education in many research articles [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. To promote the comprehensive approach, we will design the activity around chemistry laboratory work [18].…”