Systems Thinking and Educating the Heads, Hands, and Hearts of Chemistry Majors

Abstract

The recent calls to reorient chemistry education so that it explicitly incorporates a systems perspective offer the potential for learning environments where students not only learn how chemists think and do various tasks in the lab, but also learn about the relationship between chemistry and the larger society. This reorientation will more fully engage students in the three complementary dimensions central to their preparation to become members of a profession like chemistry. The pedagogical approach developed by SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) is one way that faculty could reorient chemistry courses toward a systems perspective and provide increased emphasis on the ethical nature of chemistry's impact on society. An undergraduate chemistry curriculum that educates "head, hands, and heart" offers great potential to prepare students to become chemists that are fully committed to the ACS vision of "improving people's lives through the transforming power of chemistry".