Authored by renowned experts in the field of chemistry education, this book provides a holistic approach to cover all issues related to learning and teaching in the chemistry laboratory.
Research into the educational effectiveness of chemistry practical work has shown that the laboratory offers a unique mode of instruction, assessment and evaluation. Laboratory work is an integral and important part of the learning process, used to encourage the development of high order thinking and learning alongside high order learning and thinking skills such as argumentation and metacognition. Authored by renowned experts in the field of chemistry education, this book provides a holistic approach to cover all issues related to learning and teaching in the chemistry laboratory. With sections focused on developing the skill sets of teachers, as well as approaches to supporting students in the laboratory, the book offers a comprehensive look at vicarious instruction methods, teacher and students' roles, and the blend with ICT, simulations, and other effective approaches to practical work. The book concludes with a focus on retrospective issues, followed-up with a look to the future of laboratory learning. A product of nearly fifty years of research, this book will be useful for chemistry teachers, curriculum developers, researchers in chemistry education, and professional development providers.
Two recent initiatives from the EU, namely the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Agenda are likely to have a major influence on European Higher Education. It seems unlikely that traditional teaching approaches, which supported the elitist system of the past, will promote the mobility, widened participation and culture of 'life-long learning' that will provide the foundations for a future knowledge-based economy. There is therefore a clear need to seek new approaches to support the changes which will inevitably occur. The European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) is a network of some 160 university chemistry departments from throughout the EU as well as a number of National Chemical Societies (including the RSC) which provides a discussion forum for all aspects of higher education in chemistry. This handbook is a result of one of their working groups, who identified and collated good practice with respect to innovative methods in Higher Level Chemistry Education. It provides a comprehensive overview of innovations in university chemistry teaching from a broad European perspective. The generation of this book through a European Network, with major national chemical societies and a large number of chemistry departments as members make the book unique. The wide variety of scholars who have contributed to the book, make it interesting and invaluable reading for both new and experienced chemistry lecturers throughout the EU and beyond. The book is aimed at chemistry education at universities and other higher level institutions and at all academic staff and anyone interested in the teaching of chemistry at the tertiary level. Although newly appointed teaching staff are a clear target for the book, the innovative aspects of the topics covered are likely to prove interesting to all committed chemistry lecturers.
This volume offers a critical examination of a variety of conceptual approaches to teaching and learning chemistry in the school classroom. Presenting up-to-date research and theory and featuring contributions by respected academics on several continents, it explores ways of making knowledge meaningful and relevant to students as well as strategies for effectively communicating the core concepts essential for developing a robust understanding of the subject. Structured in three sections, the contents deal first with teaching and learning chemistry, discussing general issues and pedagogical strategies using macro, sub-micro and symbolic representations of chemical concepts. Researchers also describe new and productive teaching strategies. The second section examines specific approaches that foster learning with understanding, focusing on techniques such as cooperative learning, presentations, laboratory activities, multimedia simulations and role-playing in forensic chemistry classes. The final part of the book details learner-centered active chemistry learning methods, active computer-aided learning and trainee chemistry teachers` use of student-centered learning during their pre-service education. Comprehensive and highly relevant, this new publication makes a significant contribution to the continuing task of making chemistry classes engaging and effective.
Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2017 Award This comprehensive collection of top-level contributions provides a thorough review of the vibrant field of chemistry education. Highly-experienced chemistry professors and education experts cover the latest developments in chemistry learning and teaching, as well as the pivotal role of chemistry for shaping a more sustainable future. Adopting a practice-oriented approach, the current challenges and opportunities posed by chemistry education are critically discussed, highlighting the pitfalls that can occur in teaching chemistry and how to circumvent them. The main topics discussed include best practices, project-based education, blended learning and the role of technology, including e-learning, and science visualization. Hands-on recommendations on how to optimally implement innovative strategies of teaching chemistry at university and high-school levels make this book an essential resource for anybody interested in either teaching or learning chemistry more effectively, from experience chemistry professors to secondary school teachers, from educators with no formal training in didactics to frustrated chemistry students.
Continuous professional development of chemistry teachers is essential for any effective chemistry teaching, due to the evolving nature of the subject matter and its instructional techniques. Professional development aims to keep chemistry teaching up-to-date and to make it more meaningful, more educationally effective, and better aligned to current requirements. Presenting models and examples of professional development for chemistry teachers, from pre-service preparation through to continuous professional development, the authors walk the reader through theory and practice. The authors discuss factors which affect successful professional development, such as workload, availability and time constraints, and consider how we maintain the life-long learning of chemistry teachers. With a solid grounding in the literature and drawing on many examples from the authors' rich experiences, this book enables researchers and educators to better understand teachers' roles in effective chemistry education and the importance of their professional development.
Problem solving is central to the teaching and learning of chemistry at secondary, tertiary and post-tertiary levels of education, opening to students and professional chemists alike a whole new world for analysing data, looking for patterns and making deductions. As an important higher-order thinking skill, problem solving also constitutes a major research field in science education. Relevant education research is an ongoing process, with recent developments occurring not only in the area of quantitative/computational problems, but also in qualitative problem solving. The following situations are considered, some general, others with a focus on specific areas of chemistry: quantitative problems, qualitative reasoning, metacognition and resource activation, deconstructing the problem-solving process, an overview of the working memory hypothesis, reasoning with the electron-pushing formalism, scaffolding organic synthesis skills, spectroscopy for structural characterization in organic chemistry, enzyme kinetics, problem solving in the academic chemistry laboratory, chemistry problem-solving in context, team-based/active learning, technology for molecular representations, IR spectra simulation, and computational quantum chemistry tools. The book concludes with methodological and epistemological issues in problem solving research and other perspectives in problem solving in chemistry.
This state-of-the art research Handbook provides a comprehensive, coherent, current synthesis of the empirical and theoretical research concerning teaching and learning in science and lays down a foundation upon which future research can be built. The contributors, all leading experts in their research areas, represent the international and gender diversity that exists in the science education research community. As a whole, the Handbook of Research on Science Education demonstrates that science education is alive and well and illustrates its vitality. It is an essential resource for the entire science education community, including veteran and emerging researchers, university faculty, graduate students, practitioners in the schools, and science education professionals outside of universities. The National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) endorses the Handbook of Research on Science Education as an important and valuable synthesis of the current knowledge in the field of science education by leading individuals in the field. For more information on NARST, please visit: http://www.narst.org/.
