Identifying Opportunities to Promote Systems Thinking in Catalysis Education

Abstract

While several engineering and science disciplines, including biology and environmental science, have greatly benefited from adopting a systems thinking approach, its extension to chemistry education is a much more recent advancement. The initial body of literature in this direction has largely surveyed the feasibility for systems thinking in general chemistry courses. Herein, we go a step further to explore the possibilities that systems thinking present for the instruction of more advanced chemistry courses, specifically in the context of catalysis education. Since catalysis has conventionally been taught employing a reductionist perspective, we identify the opportunities and challenges for instructors in transitioning to a systems thinking teaching style. We build our analysis in accordance with the principle of constructive alignment, where we systematically address the implications for systems thinking in writing intended learning outcomes, designing learning activities, and formulating student assessments. Through a series of carefully crafted examples in homogeneous as well as heterogeneous catalysis, we illustrate how embracing systems thinking can potentially enable a paradigm shift in catalysis education.