Graphical Tools for Conceptualizing Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education

Abstract

One challenge associated with introducing systems thinking in chemistry classrooms is the increase in content complexity that students face when they engage in this type of approach. Placing core chemical ideas within larger systems has promise, as long as students are not overwhelmed by the added complexity. Although there are many potential strategies for dealing with complexity, one common tool is to employ visual or graphical tools to help conceptualize the problem or system at hand. In part because systems thinking touches on many potential levels of implementation, there are different visual tools that are helpful in conceptualizing different aspects. Some tools, such as systemsoriented concept map extension (SOCME) diagrams and systemigrams, use methodologies often associated with concept mapping but add features that enhance their applicability in systems thinking. Object−Process Methodology (OPM), which has seen fairly wide use in systems engineering contexts, uses formally defined components and links between them to help conceptualize systems and problems. Many systems of interest are dynamic in nature so tools such as behavior over time graphs (BOTG) are helpful in calibrating the temporal aspects of systems. Such dynamics are also captured via causal loop diagrams and stock and flow diagrams. Here, we introduce and describe the affordances of multiple types of graphical tools that can be used to support systems thinking approaches in chemistry education. Knowing the uses and advantages of these different tools will allow instructors to make informed choices about the tools that will best meet a particular educational goal when using systems thinking approaches in the classroom.

Faculty perspectives regarding the integration of systems thinking into chemistry education

“…Various visual/graphical tools have also been constructed to aid the implementation of systems thinking techniques into teaching. Systems oriented concept map extensions (SOCMEs), causal loop diagrams, and stock and flow diagrams are some examples of such tools, each with their own strengths and applications to which they are best suited (Aubrecht et al, 2019). SOCMEs have similar features to concept maps, however, in a SOCME, the subsystems and all connections between them are clearly identified.…”

“…Such variables are displayed as stocks, flows and auxiliaries. A variable is classed as a stock variable if it involves an accumulation or storage in the system, a flow is how stock moves between subsystems, and an auxiliary provides additional information about said flow and how subsystems are interrelated (Aubrecht et al, 2019). Fig.…”

Using the chemistry of pharmaceuticals to introduce sustainable chemistry and systems thinking in general chemistry

“…This aspect of introducing systems thinking is more capable of moving beyond the treatment of components and incorporate more varied and complex connections of chemistry an society. This has been accompanied by student participation of a SOCME diagram (26,27) of a particular drug, cytarabine.…”

“…The organizational scheme used to help visualize the connections between subsystems for the material on cytarabine as more aspects were considered is referred to as a SOCME diagram (26,27). The key philosophical tenet of this visualization method is that it asks the question, "Are we considering the right boundary for the issue?"…”

Chemistry in a post-Covid-19 world

“…13 Furthermore, the systems-oriented concept map extension (SOCME) has been developed as a tool that aids the understanding and visualization of interactions within and between systems. 16 • Concerns about global challenges, UN SDGs, etc, and the overall sustainability of the planetary environment require more than adding information/footnotes to existing chemistry texts. Typical school and undergraduate textbooks carry a historical legacy which is rooted in the idea that the planet has an effectively inexhaustible supply of natural resources.…”