Systems Thinking Benefits

1. Potential Benefits Overview
2. Research Based Evidence

Systems Thinking Benefits

In general, a reductive approach to teaching and learning chemistry leaves students with a limited understanding of central concepts and varying levels of content retention. By implementing systems thinking, discussions are reframed to emphasize interconnections, providing students, educators, and the broader community with opportunities to realize the many potential benefits associated with this framework. Visit the list to obtain an overview of the vast number of potential benefits and/or delve into the research and literature to review the ones reported by educators.

Potential Benefits

1. Benefits to students

• Abstract concepts become personalized 
• Disciplines are connected  
• Activities are more likely to highlight connections between content and careers  
• Connections between concepts and laboratory practices are highlighted 
• Ethical and sustainable laboratory practices are encouraged  
• Science communication skills are developed 
• General science literacy is developed  
• Relevance of concepts to modern sustainability challenges are highlighted  
• Demands instructor expertise 

2. Benefits to instructors

• Connections between concepts are highlighted 
• Active learning modalities are facilitated  
• Creative assessments are encouraged  
• Greater motivation to include interesting examples  
• Personal connections with students are improved 

3. Benefits in the classroom/laboratory

• Shared interests and connections between students  
• Increased opportunity for discussion  
• Enhanced peer-peer learning 
• Improved research collaboration  
• Greater awareness of safety and waste management  
• Enhanced collaboration in teaching and research laboratories 

4. Benefits to the institution

• Students and instructors can better connect with other disciplines  
• Increased potential for cross-disciplinary collaboration  
• Institution focuses on sustainability  
• Increased enrollment  
• Enhanced applications  

5. Benefits to the department

• Enhanced opportunities for curricular scaffolding  
• Increased opportunity for research collaboration  
• Stronger conceptual connections across topics, courses and levels of study  
• Greater cohesion across disciplines and reduced siloing 

6. Benefits to the community (local & regional)

• Connections to sustainability initiatives    
• Greater volunteer efforts  
• Students understand how chemistry relates to their community  
• An understanding global citizenship is fostered 
• Greater agency in addressing sustainability challenges 
• Enhanced capacity to address complex problems 

Reported Benefits

Research on educators’ perspectives of systems thinking in chemistry education highlights several potential benefits of implementing and engaging with systems thinking. These benefits are organized by the papers published on this topic. 

Enhanced student learning

• Jackson and Hurst (2021): “The implications for teacher practice emerging from this theme are that a systems thinking approach is considered beneficial to learning because students can integrate their understandings, and thus this approach should be used throughout university courses.“
• Delaney et al  (2021): “The implications for teacher practice emerging from this theme are that a systems thinking approach is considered beneficial to learning because students can integrate their understandings, and thus this approach should be used throughout university courses.“
• Szozda et al (2022): “Educators had two common categories of beliefs about why they would be willing to implement STICE: (1) ST helps with student skill and knowledge development and (2) STICE is important for helping shape the future of chemistry and society (Table S2).” 
• York and Orgill (2024): “Instructors believe learning via a systems thinking approach increases students’ performance outcomes.“
• Szozda et al (2024): “Providing opportunities for students to engage in discussions with individuals who have different perspectives can lead to improved educational outcomes and serve as a catalyst for new ideas.“
• Reynders et al (2025): “[The students] mentioned ‘learning to see the bigger picture’ as a benefit of the activity.“
• Chen et al (2025): “All the interviewees (100%, (n = 6)) indicated that the way the STEMs linked their course content to relevant, real-world applications was interesting and valuable, giving meaning to the topics.“
• Pieters et al (2026): “The module was praised for its ability to accommodate diverse learning needs, with opportunities for differentiation allowing students to work at varying levels of complexity.“
• Reynders and Holme (2026): “Students could identify a wider variety of chemistry concepts and connections over time, even as scaffolding was reduced.”

Improved student engagement and motivation 

• Jackson and Hurst (2021): “The implications for teacher practice emerging from this theme are that a systems thinking approach is considered beneficial to learning because students can integrate their understandings, and thus this approach should be used throughout university courses.” 
• Delaney et al  (2021): “Participants considered this an opportunity to increase student engagement and motivation by making links between the theory taught and students’ prior knowledge and experiences. The use of systems thinking was valued by participants as a way to illustrate the usefulness and importance of chemistry, in so doing increasing student interest.“
• Szozda et al (2022): “I think it will increase student engagement, give non-majors a greater appreciation for chemistry and improve students’ scientific knowledge and, potentially, their scientific communication skills.“
• York and Orgill (2024): “Instructors believe systems thinking creates a more interesting, enjoyable learning experience that motivates and engages students.“
• Szozda et al (2024): “Participants believed ST gives a greater purpose to learning and allows students to engage in critical thinking.“
• Reynders et al (2025): “Student engagement with system maps allows them to recognize chemistry’s relevance while appreciating learning about its connection to socio-scientific issues and sustainability.“
• Chen et al (2025): “By forming real-world connections to the curriculum through the STEMs, (12) interviewees could engage with chemistry topics they perceived as interesting and important, thus enhancing their chemistry motivation.“
• Pieters et al (2026): “Students were actively engaged in creating a collective product, thereby demonstrating a high level of student involvement.“
• Reynders and Holme (2026): “Engagement with chemistry using a systems thinking visualization tool (SOCME diagrams) provided a new form of engagement and, subsequently, their learning about chemistry.”

Support for interdisciplinary learning

• Jackson and Hurst (2021): “Allowing students to see the relevance of the material that they are learning in terms of other areas of the programme, ‘real-world applications’, and other subjects.” 
• Delaney et al  (2021): “Tertiary educators specifically saw value in the promise of interdisciplinarity through a systems thinking approach, but also identified that taken too far, this may threaten chemistry’s existence as a separate discipline.” 
• Szozda et al (2022): “Educators’ mention: ST allows chemistry to be viewed from multiple perspectives due to its connections to other disciplines/contexts.“ 
• York and Orgill (2024): “Instructors believe learning via a systems thinking approach develops students’ ability to address problems from an interdisciplinary perspective.“
• Szozda et al (2024): “ST enables students to produce an interdisciplinary understanding of a topic because students develop the cognitive abilities (e.g., critical thinking) necessary for fostering integration.”
• Reynders et al (2025): “[ST] is also valuable for inviting interdisciplinary student interest to foster collaboration and perspective sharing necessary to solve complex problems.“
• Chen et al (2025): “All participants of STEM#3 (n = 28) achieved LOs1–3 (see Table 3), demonstrating proficiency in applying basic systems thinking skills to a different real-world chemistry context…“
• Pieters et al (2026): “The learning materials designed in this work will be… broadly applicable to many educational settings like different subjects or levels. Particularly for secondary schools, they encourage students to develop critical skills in an early stage, which are motivating and which are later useful in all professions.“
• Reynders and Holme (2026): “That these science contexts were activated with a systems approach, building SOCME diagrams rather than just concept maps, suggests that the scaffolded approach contributed to students’ ability to use a greater range of concepts in their reasoning.”

Potential to address global challenges 

• Jackson and Hurst (2021): “Communication skills and the ability to work with individuals and teams from different fields were emphasized by participants as important advantages resulting from this interdisciplinary nature of systems thinking and it was suggested that this will allow for greater and more effective progress to be made on interdisciplinary projects such those required to address the UN SDGs.“
• Delaney et al  (2021): “For practicing teachers, this is a further reason to adopt a systems thinking approach –students are provided with opportunities to realise the power of chemistry to productively negotiate environmental problems.” 
• Szozda et al (2022): “Educators’ mention: ST will benefit society and future scientists by thinking holistically about consequences of actions.“ 
• York and Orgill (2024): “Twelve of 17 instructors perceived that students learning via a systems thinking approach become motivated stakeholders who understand the relevance of both systems thinking and chemistry for addressing real-world problems.” 
• Szozda et al (2024): “Two participants stated that ST activities may allow students to understand the importance of learning chemistry and help students build toward a future purpose or goal.“
• Reynders et al (2025): “[The students] mentioned “learning to see the bigger picture” as a benefit of the activity or contemplated the purpose of the Systems Thinking activity as resulting in a better understanding of the risks and benefits of chemistry in moving toward global sustainability.”
• Chen et al (2025): “Adopting a systems thinking approach allows educators to modernize chemistry learning by helping students understand the impact of chemistry and green chemistry principles underpinning global systems and sustainability.“
• Pieters et al (2026): “Systems thinking emphasizes the analysis of the interconnectedness of system components and processes, making it particularly useful for addressing 21st-century challenges.“
• Reynders and Holme (2026): “Outside of the indicated portion on Figure 2, students were also able to connect chemistry measurement, reactions, and applications to broader-scale societal and environmental concepts, which includes societal activities and the abiotic and biotic aspects in the environment.“

Professional development for educators/researchers  

• Delaney et al  (2021): “Systems thinking was seen as a way to productively restructure research, such as by uniting research projects, establishing research centres, and affording reflection. This would benefit researchers’ own research programmes, and also allow them to disseminate the importance of their research to society more easily.” 
• Szozda et al (2022): “Educators believe workshops on STICE will help improve their teaching.“ 
• York and Orgill (2024): “Instructors believe systems thinking requires that they critically evaluate what they’re teaching, as well as why and how they are teaching it, which can benefit their courses and their students’  learning.“
• Chen et al (2025): “Using systems thinking can help educators address reported challenges in first-year undergraduate chemistry curricula...”
• Pieters et al (2026): “Our results suggest that systems thinking skills can already be applied in practice, even without specific prior training…“

Benefits outside of a degree program

• Jackson and Hurst (2021): “Instructors believe systems thinking requires that they critically evaluate what they’re teaching, as well as why and how they are teaching it, which can benefit their courses and their students’ learning.” 
• Delaney et al  (2021): “For practicing teachers, this is a further reason to adopt a systems thinking approach –students are provided with opportunities to realise the power of chemistry to productively negotiate environmental problems.” 
• Szozda et al (2022): “ST would help students foster understanding and problem solving skills.” 
• York and Orgill (2024): “Instructors believe learning via a systems thinking approach helps students develop skills that they will need for their future schooling or careers, like collaboration, communication, group problem solving, and scientific reasoning skills.” 
• Szozda et al (2024): “Students from diverse backgrounds can share their ideas and experiences with others in activities to facilitate educational outcomes such as cultural knowledge and awareness, recognizing the complexity of issues and learning to work with different kinds of people.“
• Reynders et al (2025): “The code ‘Chemistry is relevant’ emerged from students’ reflections that they could see the relevance and applications of chemistry to their lives and in their world.“
• Chen et al (2025): “Interviewees mentioned…  that a systems thinking perspective gave them confidence in tackling complex issues because they had “more insights on any problem” (Interviewee #4).“
• Pieters et al (2026): “The teachers noticed that the learning materials stimulated the development of various cognitive and problem-solving skills in students (e.g., making connections, searching and processing information, and working together in groups).“
• Reynders and Holme (2026): “Scaffolded instruction promoted student ability to demonstrate more advanced integration skills toward the end of the course.” 

Improve perceptions of chemistry

• Delaney et al  (2021): “Several of the tertiary chemists expressed an appreciation of a systems thinking approach as a means to improve perceptions of chemistry. Two different aspects of this were noted: student perceptions, which may impact their desire to study chemistry, which were also discussed above, and public perceptions that might influence their everyday encounters with chemistry.” 
• Szozda et al (2022): “Educators had two common categories of beliefs about why they would be willing to implement STICE: (1) ST helps with student skill and knowledge development and (2) STICE is important for helping shape the future of chemistry and society (Table S2).“
• York and Orgill (2024):”Instructors believe students who learn from a systems thinking approach become motivated, action-taking stakeholders who understand the relevance of chemistry in their everyday lives and future careers, regardless of their future careers within or beyond STEM.” 
• Szozda et al (2024): “Participants stated that ST can help other students give a sense of purpose to learning chemistry“
• Reynders et al (2025): “Incorporating sustainability considerations in a chemistry course can change the image of the discipline to being part of the solution and not only a problem.”
• Chen et al (2025): “Overall, the qualitative analysis from the interviews indicate that participating in the STEMs improved attitudes toward learning chemistry, appreciating the role of chemistry in sustainability.“
• Pieters et al (2026): “Systems thinking education could leverage chemistry as a central science to prepare students for global challenges such as circularity and sustainability.“
• Reynders and Holme (2026): “The current study showed that for nonscience students, even though the detailed chemistry was not always included in mapping activities, students still engaged with multilevel thinking and recognized that chemistry is ‘the backbone of everything’ (student 8).“