Curated publications

(2025) SOCKit: An Online Tool for Systems Thinking

Posted July 23, 2025. Updated July 23, 2025.

Robert MacDonald, Ashley Elgersma, Thomas Holme, Jeff Snyder, Micke Reynders and Peter Mahaffy Journal of Chemical Education 2025 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00310 This article describes how to use SOCKit, an open-access online learning tool that encourages systems thinking through the creation of system maps. This article also presents the relevance of Systems-Oriented Concept Map Extensions (SOCMEs) in […]

(2024) An educational framework for teaching chemistry using a systems thinking approach

Posted May 8, 2024. Updated May 13, 2024.

Vicente Talanquer and Alisha R. Szozda

(2024) Experienced tertiary instructors’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of systems thinking in chemistry education

Posted May 8, 2024. Updated May 13, 2024.

Sarah York and MaryKay Orgill

(2023) Teaching and assessing systems thinking in first-year chemistry

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Micke Reynders, Lynne A Pilcher, and Marietjie Potgieter

(2021) Faculty perspectives regarding the integration of systems thinking into chemistry education

Posted May 8, 2024. Updated May 13, 2024.

Alice Jackson and Glenn A. Hurst

(2019) Reimagining chemistry education: systems thinking and green and sustainable chemistry.

Posted August 17, 2023. Updated August 18, 2023.

Journal of Chemical Education | Vol 96, No 12 (acs.org) This special issue topic was a group effort of the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education, the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, and the ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement. Papers in the issue are intended to be the inaugural global reference point for literature on systems thinking in chemistry […]

(2023) Identifying chemistry students’ baseline systems thinking skills when constructing system maps for a topic on climate change

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Alisha R. Szozda, Peter G. Mahaffy, and Alison B. Flynn

(2022) Investigating educators’ perspectives toward systems thinking in chemistry education from international contexts

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Alisha R. Szozda, Kathryn Bruyere, Hayley Lee, Peter G. Mahaffy, and Alison B. Flynn

(2022) An interactive planetary boundaries systems thinking learning tool to integrate sustainability into the chemistry curriculum

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Robert P. MacDonald, Anna N. Pattison, Sarah E. Cornell, Ashley K. Elgersma, Sarah N. Greidanus, Sydney N. Visser, Melanie Hoffman, and Peter G. Mahaffy

(2019) Designing and teaching a novel interdisciplinary course on complex systems to prepare new generations to address 21st-century challenges

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Pier Luigi Gentili

(2019) Introduction to systems thinking for the chemistry education community

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

MaryKay Orgill, Sarah York, and Jennifer MacKellar

(2019) Navigating complexity using systems thinking in chemistry, with implications for chemistry education

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

David J. C. Constable, Concepción Jiménez-González, and Stephen A. Matlin

(2019) Introducing chemistry through the lens of earth’s systems: what role can systems thinking play in developing chemically and environmentally literate citizens?

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Jeannie Kornfeld and Scott Stokoe

(2019) Systems thinking in chemistry education: theoretical challenges and opportunities

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Samuel Pazicni and Alison B. Flynn

(2019) Some insights into assessing chemical systems thinking

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Vicente Talanquer

(2019) Applications of systems thinking in stem education

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Sarah York, Rea Lavi, Yehudit Judy Dori, and MaryKay Orgill

(2019) Graphical tools for conceptualizing systems thinking in chemistry education

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Katherine B. Aubrecht, Yehudit Judy Dori, Thomas A. Holme, Rea Lavi, Stephen A. Matlin, MaryKay Orgill, and Heather Skaza-Acosta

(2019) Systems thinking in science education and outreach toward a sustainable future

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Jillian L. Blatti, John Garcia, Danyal Cave, Felix Monge, Anthony Cuccinello, Jennifer Portillo, Betsy Juarez, Ellen Chan, and Frieda Schwebel

(2019) Integrating the molecular basis of sustainability into general chemistry through systems thinking

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Peter G. Mahaffy, Stephen A. Matlin, J. Marc Whalen, and Thomas A. Holme

(2019) Using a systems thinking approach and a scratch computer program to improve students’ understanding of the brønsted–lowry acid–base model

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Sungki Kim, Hee Choi, and Seoung-Hey Paik

(2019) Situating sustainable development within secondary chemistry education via systems thinking: a depth study approach

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Andrew C. Eaton, Seamus Delaney, and Madeleine Schultz

(2019) Green Machine: a card game introducing students to systems thinking in green chemistry by strategizing the creation of a recycling plant

Posted August 10, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Jonathan L. Miller, Michael T. Wentzel, James H. Clark, and Glenn A. Hurst

(2019) Integrating systems thinking into teaching emerging technologies

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Whitney C. Fowler, Jeffrey M. Ting, Siqi Meng, Lu Li, and Matthew V. Tirrell

(2019) Turning challenges into opportunities for promoting systems thinking through chemistry education

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Felix M. Ho

(2019) Systems thinking and green chemistry: powerful levers for curricular change and adoption

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

James E. Hutchison

(2019) Promoting systems thinking using project- and problem-based learning.

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Subhalakshmi Nagarajan and Tina Overton

(2019) Sustainable consumer choices: an outreach program exploring the environmental impact of our consumer choices using a systems thinking model and laboratory activities.

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Kathleen C. Murphy, Meghna Dilip, Joseph G. Quattrucci, Susan M. Mitroka, and Jeremy R. Andreatta

(2019) Integrating green chemistry in the curriculum: building student skills in systems thinking, safety, and sustainability.

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Katherine B. Aubrecht, Marie Bourgeois, Edward J. Brush, Jennifer MacKellar, and Jane E. Wissinger

(2019) Systems thinking for educating about the molecular basis of sustainability.

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Mahaffy, P. G.; Matlin, S. A.; Holme, T. A.; MacKellar. J.

(2018) Reorienting chemistry education through systems thinking.

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Mahaffy, P. G.; Krief, A.; Hopf, H.; Matlin, S. A.

(2016) One-world chemistry and systems thinking.

Posted August 9, 2023. Updated May 13, 2024.

Matlin, S. A.; Mehta, G.; Hopf, H.; Krief, A.