The Analysis of Systems Thinking in the Official Chemistry Curriculum and Textbooks in China

Abstract

<p>Systems thinking emphasizes the dynamic interconnections between components. By fostering students' systems thinking skills, they can better grasp the interconnectedness and the relationships between chemistry and other fields, equipping students to tackle complex challenges in the future. This study aims to determine how a pair of official chemistry curriculum and textbook used in senior high school provide the necessary resources for developing students' systems thinking: (1) To what extent does the official chemistry curriculum reflect a systems thinking approach? (2) How have the systems thinking been translated from the official chemistry curriculum to textbooks? (3) To what extent are the official chemistry curriculum and textbooks aligned regarding the inclusion of system thinking? This study involves document analysis, which examines the official chemistry curriculum and textbooks using the Systems Thinking Hierarchical Model pyramid (STM model) within the topic context of Chemical Reactions. It was found that the <em>Curriculum Standards</em> aligned with the criteria of the STH Model and its focus is primarily on the implementation level. Due to the instructional nature of textbooks, the focus tends to center around the synthesis of system components, where various strategies were utilized to enhance students' development of systems thinking. However, not all systems thinking skills are covered in a balanced manner in the textbook. Particularly, the concluding sections at the end of each chapter frequently only showcase simple elements without capturing the systemic nature of the topic. This study is expected to arouse academic interest in the use of official chemistry curriculums and textbooks as vehicles for fostering students’ systems thinking perspective. It is also hoped that the findings can provide guidance to the curriculum developers in future curriculum development efforts.<br></p>