Summary
Authors consider systems thinking as a representation of one pedagogical approach, in which a holistic framework empowers both teachers and students to recognize how fundamental concepts taught in the classroom can be used as resourceful tools to better address complex, multicomponent modern challenges. The paper discusses a molecular engineering course introduced at the University of Chicago 5 years ago (“Introduction to Emerging Technologies”) that provides a model course where explicitly designing elements of systems thinking to the course could further strengthen students’ understanding of the already well suited, holistic course topics.
The paper aims to (i) present how the course materials of a “Introduction to Emerging Technologies” class highlight creative opportunities for interfacing the developmental pathways of successful technologies with systems thinking, (ii) discuss how explicitly incorporating terminology and theories based on systems thinking may allow students to construct an interconnected and more substantial understanding of the course concepts and the technologies studied, and (iii) offer parallel reflections and opportunities for interested instructors to consider how they might transition a course in a similar manner.
The course was originally developed to encourage interdisciplinary and holistic perspectives, with course topics focusing on the uniquely broad topics of tissue engineering, nanomedicine, batteries, quantum information, and meat alternatives. For each technology, authors outline the direct connections between the current course topics and future opportunities to incorporate systems thinking strategies, challenging students to identify the interdependence of components in a successful technology.
Authors propose the emerging technology of Li-ion batteries as an ideal example to illustrate the circuitous path for turning an innovative and elegant scientific idea into a real marketable product, and authors propose that incorporating systems theories and terminology can further enhance students’ comprehension of this topic. They consider Quantum information technology as another suitable topic to capitalize on systems thinking, with some of the many interrelated components as the societal, global, and geopolitical components of the quantum technology system and the emergent properties of this system that are not present in the individual components. Furthermore, they claim that the discussion about meat protein alternatives requires consideration of the economics of scale, FDA regulations/media coverage, and evaluation of the human element/response and thus is suitable for explicitly incorporating systems thinking terminology and concepts.
Although authors have emphasized the promising potential of incorporating systems thinking to emerging technologies specifically, the implementation of the course shows that technology is not unique in containing the essential components, properties, and relationships of a system.
Since the current “reductionistic” pedagogical framework of reducing concepts to discrete units does have some advantages such as conceptual simplicity of understanding for students, it will take effort for instructors to include systems thinking pedagogy amidst the predominant culture, with the added challenges that there have been only a few published systems thinking teaching resources, as well as the dearth of communal understanding and support from peer instructors.
Authors assert that any course redesign must begin by incorporating a systems thinking emphasis to the constructive alignment design scheme: starting with creating learning goals for students that prioritize systems thinking skills, then designing learning activities that promote these outcomes, and finally developing forms of assessment that reinforce and measure the systems thinking-specific learning goals.
Overall, special emphasis is placed on tailoring discussions around concepts in chemical education, to assist in sparking ideas for integrating systems thinking in the chemistry community. Authors focus on providing general reflections on and insight into the strategies and challenges of transitioning a university classroom into a systems thinking course, so that instructors may be better equipped to restructure and strengthen their courses accordingly.
Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
The paper deals with interdisciplinarity and systems thinking.
The proposed course was originally structured to encourage interdisciplinary and holistic perspectives including topics like tissue engineering, nanomedicine, batteries, quantum information technology, and beyond animal-based meats. In each of these topics, lectures combined scientific background and engineering implications with relevant societal, economic, political, and technological factors to equip the students with a holistic understanding of not only how interdisciplinary fields of research collaborate together but also how external factors such as market trends, regulatory environments, patent protection, and development of cost-effective manufacturing affect the pace of technology development.
The paper discusses the following key systems thinking concepts: systems as units of investigation, boundaries, flow, feedback loops, causality, dynamic and cyclic behavior, organizing relationships, and emergent properties.
