A Lesson Study on the Integration of Systems Thinking with the Explicit Use of System Characteristics in High School Chemistry Education

This study investigates the integration of systems thinking with the explicit use of system characteristics in high school chemistry education. It aims to explore how teachers use theoretical recommendations to foster students’ understanding and application of systems thinking. Based on theoretical recommendations and classroom experience, seven teachers and three researchers collaboratively designed, implemented, and discussed key activities of an introductory lesson in systems thinking using Lesson Study. This lesson was taught in three classes, with adjustments made between iterations, while students were being observed. Audio and minutes from design sessions, post-lesson discussions, and reflective interviews with the teachers were analyzed to identify design choices and underlying arguments that led to key activities. Furthermore, the teachers’ learning goal statements were examined to assess their perceptions of students’ understanding and the application of systems thinking. The analysis of these qualitative data sources yielded four recommendations for the integration of systems thinking. First, get students acquainted with the relevant system characteristics with a (non) chemical phenomenon. Second, let them apply systems thinking to a well-considered complex chemical phenomenon based on five considerations. Third, address challenging system characteristics with scaffolding. Finally, let students create visualizations with support in four steps. These four recommendations were applied in conjunction and aligned with classroom practice characterized by a scaffolded progression toward higher-order thinking skills and attention to the affective domain, within practical and cognitive limits. According to the teachers, this introductory lesson enhanced students’ understanding of systems thinking and, to a lesser extent, its application.