New resources have recently been emerging for educators to implement systems thinking (ST) in chemistry education, including a proposed set of ST skills. While these efforts aim to make ST implementation easier, little is known about how to assess these skills in a chemistry context. In this study, we investigated ST skills employed by students…

Researchers and educators have been exploring systems thinking (ST) in chemistry education to better equip citizens for 21st century challenges; however, little is known about students' perspectives and experiences. In this study, we investigated students' perspectives of ST and their experiences with ST activities. We designed and implemented a…

The purpose of this article is to describe the possibilities of using worksheets in the teaching of lipids and proteins. The worksheet includes a concept map, suggestions for three safe experiments that can be performed with available household chemicals, and observation results. The worksheets were implemented into action research in two classes…

The American Chemical Society, Division of Chemical Education, Examinations Institute has been developing content maps for the undergraduate program based on subdiscipline specifications since 2008. The Anchoring Concepts Content Maps (or ACCM) have been published in four subdisciplines (general, organic, physical, and inorganic chemistry) with…

Organic chemistry presents a significant obstacle for students seeking entry into health-related professions. Students' ability to develop effective study approaches is an important predictor of success in the course. Herein, we report an investigation utilizing an OCH-adjusted M-ASSIST instrument to assess possible changes in students' study…

This study aims to equip students with conceptual modeling skills to address compelling 21st-century challenges in chemistry and chemical engineering education. System-based concept mapping is a critical competence for analyzing global, often complex, problems. We examined how conceptual modeling could scaffold practical experimental design,…

Powerful arguments have been made recently to advocate for the introduction of systems thinking in chemistry education to equip graduates to address sustainability challenges. This contribution describes systems thinking activities and an assessment tool that enables meaningful learning in first-year organic chemistry as students engage with the…

The American Chemical Society (ACS), Division of Chemical Education, Examinations Institute, has been developing content maps to describe comprehensively the undergraduate curriculum aligned to traditional subdisciplines. These content maps have been developed through the combined efforts of many faculty members who teach the targeted courses in…

The flow of materials and energy through society is an integral but poorly visible element of global sustainability agendas such as the Planetary Boundaries Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Given that the primary activities of chemistry are to analyze, synthesize, and transform matter, the practice of chemistry has a…

One challenge associated with introducing systems thinking in chemistry classrooms is the increase in content complexity that students face when they engage in this type of approach. Placing core chemical ideas within larger systems has promise, as long as students are not overwhelmed by the added complexity. Although there are many potential…

The American Chemical Society-Examinations Institute (ACS-EI) released the first ACS Foundations of Inorganic Chemistry Examination in 2016 to better address the two generalized types of inorganic chemistry courses (i.e., at the foundation or second/third-year level and the indepth or third/fourth-year level). The ACS Inorganic Chemistry Exam that…

Recent developments in the field of history of chemistry have introduced new topics, challenges, and connections to a broad range of scientific, political, cultural, economic, and environmental issues. New audiences for the history of chemistry have emerged along with new topics, protagonists, spaces, and historical narratives. This paper…

The concept of energy is of central significance, as it is a core disciplinary idea in chemistry and a cross-cutting concept in the sciences. This study sought to investigate student understanding of energetics and associated thermodynamic functions in chemical reactions and processes across a sample of introductory-level undergraduate chemistry…

The "mole" is a fundamental concept in quantitative chemistry, yet research has shown that the mole is one of the most perplexing concepts in the teaching and learning of chemistry. This paper provides a survey of the relevant literature, identifies the necessary components of a sound understanding of the mole concept, and unpacks and…

To provide tools for programmatic assessment related to the use of ACS Exams in undergraduate chemistry courses, the ACS Exams Institute has built a content map that applies to the entire undergraduate curriculum. At the top two levels, the grain size of the content classification is large and spans the entire undergraduate curriculum. At the…