Chemistry context-based approaches

Bennett, J., Holman, J. (2002). Context-based approaches to the teaching of chemistry What are they and what are their effects In J. K. Gilbert, O. De Jong, R. Justi, D. F. Treagust, J. H. Van Driel (Eds.), Chemical education Towards research-based practice (pp. 165-184). Dordrecht, the Netherlands Kluwer Aeademie Press. 

It is expected that, in the future, inquiry, project-, problem- and context-based approaches will be given more emphasis. Cooperative forms of laboratory instmc-tion must surely be further and systematically explored, taking into account the research-based recormnendations. Lecture demonstrations, effectively designed and performed, will also be useful. Other nonconventional methods can be effectively employed, such as the use of home-laboratory kits to teach general chemistry through distance education (Kermepohl, 2007). 

The content of a curriculum must be functional when dealing with societal activities necessary chemical concepts, skills and attitudes with respect to macro-micro thinking must be included. This can be derived from representative authentic tasks. The content of the curriculum should be considered as a chemical toolbox. The traditional content of the present chemistry curriculum, such as the stmcture of atoms, ionic theoiy, fundamental acid-base calculations, are not necessarily part of the chemical toolbox when addressing chemical and technological tasks. The validity of the toolbox (philosophical substmcture) is determined by the representative practices and tasks related to chemistry (cf need-to-know principle in context-based approaches). 

Belt, S. T., Leisvik, M. J., Hyde, A. J., Overton, T. L. (2005). Using a context-based approach to undergraduate chemistry teaching - a case study for introductory physical chemistry. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 6(3), 166-179. 

Context-based approaches to teaching and learning provide applications as starting points from which to develop the subject. The success of such approaches in high-school teaching in the US with ChemCom (142) and in UK with the Salters chemistry course (143) has encouraged the use of the approach in university. In the US, this success was attributed, at least in part, to higher... 

The need to incorporate a context-based approach cannot be over emphasised, especially when we move towards the goals of mass education or science for all . The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) [28] has produced some interesting material appropriate to the interests of students that contextualises chemistry without losing sight of the underpinning subject matter. 

One striking common feature of the chapters in this section is the lack of sound research in almost all the areas that are addressed. Apart from several evaluative studies of some context-based approaches to teaching chemistry, discussed in Chapter 8, it appears that there is currently hardly any research in the informal chemical education and in the role of chemistry in vocational education. Given the problematic status of chemical education in all these areas, mentioned above, one can only conclude that the development of new designs for chemical curricula, in close relation to research activities, should be given the highest priority by policy makers, (associations of) teachers and educators, and educational researchers. 

CONTEXT-BASED APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY WHAT ARE THEY AND WHAT ARE THEIR EFFECTS ... 

Whilst we will focus where possible on aspects of curriculum materials developed for use in chemistry teaching, the fact the majority of materials with a context-based approach have been developed for use at the secondary level means that they very often embrace chemistry as part of a science course. It is in any case a feature of context-based approaches that the science they embrace ramifies beyond the traditional subject disciplines, reflecting the realities of the way science is applied in practice. 

The context-based approach can be seen in two American undergraduate courses. Chemistry in Context (American Chemical Society, 2001b) is similar in approach to ChemCom. This one-semester course for non-science majors addresses social and environmental issues and concerns, with an emphasis on decision-making. It illustrates the increasing sophistication of contexts, concepts and activities that becomes possible with increasing student age. 

An examination of a number of context-based courses reveals several common characteristics. These characteristics, either implicitly or explicitly, reflect what the developers see as desirable in chemistry teaching. In this section we summarise the perceived benefits of a context-based approach, and consider some of the disadvantages. We will categorise the benefits into the following areas curriculum design, effects on students understanding, effects on students responses to chemistry and chemistry lessons, and effects on teachers. 

Adopting a context-based approach has an effect on both the content of a chemistry curriculum and on the teaching and learning approaches adopted. 

Context-based approaches to the teaching of chemistry 175 Effects on Students Understanding of Chemistry... 

In another study Gutwill-Wise (2001) worked with university students following introductory chemistry courses. He compared students who had followed the context-based approach of ChemConnections with matched groups of students who had followed a traditional approach to chemistry. The study, carried out at Grinnell College, Iowa and the University of California at Berkeley, found that in both institutions students who had followed the context-based approach emerged with a better understanding of chemistry than their peers who had followed a traditional approach. 

The context-based approach has already had a significant effect on school chemistry and science curricula. A comparison of school textbooks today with those of 20 years ago shows that, superficially at least, the mainstream has moved in the direction we have described in this chapter. 

Judith Bennett is currently senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of York, UK, and Chair of the Research Committee of the Association for Science Education. Having obtained her first degree in Chemistry-with-Education, she taught chemistry and physics for a number of years, during which period she studied part time for an MA and PhD in Science Education. She then worked as Senior Editor of Science The Sailers Approach before moving to her current post. Her initial research focus on gender issues has developed into an interest in context-based approaches to the teaching of science and their effects on pupils, particularly their attitudes to science. 

Demrrcioglu, H., Demrrcioglu, G., alik, M. (2009). Investigating the effectiveness of storylines embedded within a context-based approach The case for the periodic table. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 10(3), 241. 

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