Chemistry, as a natural science, plays an important role in addressing the sustainability
challenges that 21st-century society faces. Modern environmental problems and the need for
sustainable development call for changes in the way chemistry is taught. In this context,
systems thinking proves to be an important competence, as it allows us to understand the
complex connections between chemical, environmental, social and economic systems. Despite
its importance, systems thinking in chemistry education remains largely unexplored and unused
in the Slovenian school context. The aim of this master's thesis is to review the literature and
existing research on systems thinking in chemistry education, and to find out how future
chemistry teachers understand systems thinking, as well as what their attitudes and views are
on including it in chemistry lessons. In the first part of the thesis, a systematic literature review
was carried out following the PRISMA guidelines, and 21 scientific articles were reviewed. In
the second part of the research, a survey was conducted with future chemistry teachers, who
completed the questionnaire in the online 1KA environment. The collected data were analysed
using descriptive statistics. The results showed that the field of systems thinking in chemistry
education is at an early stage of development and that few studies have been carried out with
chemistry teachers. In the reviewed literature, most studies were conducted at the higher
education level, and systems thinking was most often linked to the topics of sustainable
development, green chemistry and environmental chemistry. Teachers generally have a
positive attitude towards systems thinking; however, the greatest barriers to introducing it into
chemistry lessons are a lack of time, a lack of suitable teaching materials, and teachers not
being sufficiently prepared to introduce systems thinking into their lessons. Various teaching
models and visual tools for developing systems thinking already exist, but there is a significant
gap, especially in the area of assessment. In the empirical part of the research, it was found that
Slovenian future chemistry teachers understand systems thinking as an important approach in
modern teaching and recognise its importance in addressing sustainable development and
environmental topics, but they do not feel sufficiently trained to use this way of teaching in the
classroom. They feel that they do not know how to obtain quality materials and that they would
need additional support from their school and colleagues. They also mention time constraints,
the curricula and assessment methods as barriers. Systems thinking therefore represents an
important competence that can be developed through modern chemistry education, especially
by teaching environmental chemistry and sustainable development. In the future, it will be
necessary to further address the appropriate education of future chemistry teachers, to provide
quality teaching materials, and to consider changes in lesson planning and in the assessment of
knowledge. The results of this master's thesis provide a starting point for the development of
systems thinking in Slovenian chemistry education.
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