Concept maps – an effective tool to help chemistry students to interconnect chemical topics?

Modern chemistry is an interdisciplinary field encompassing sub-disciplines such as organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry. These areas are closely interconnected, forming the foundation for a comprehensive understanding of chemical phenomena. In university teacher education, however, they are often taught separately, which can hinder prospective teachers from grasping chemistry as an integrated system. Developing a deep, interconnected understanding of chemical content is essential for professional competence. Only teachers who can recognize and reflect on these interconnections are able to convey complex topics effectively and highlight interdisciplinary links in their teaching. Consequently, fostering both interconnection knowledge and interconnection understanding is increasingly important. This study explores how these skills can be specifically promoted among chemistry teacher education students. The research focuses on the use of an advance organizer (AO) in the form of a concept map (CM), a visual tool designed to structure and support the integration of content. The study examines both students’ knowledge of content interconnections and their metacognitive awareness of these links, providing insights into how prospective teachers develop the ability to understand and apply chemistry as an interconnected, coherent system.