Teaching 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). 

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... 

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. 

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... 

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. 

This implies that a thorough revision is needed of the course design and the student module. Before asking teachers to construct their own context-based module, they need a more detailed illustration of how such a context-based approach can become operational in their teaching practice. 

Phase 3. Teachers were expected to exchange teaching experiences and to reflect on them. From their reflection, they were asked to formulate general guidelines about how to teach these characteristics, resulting in a more in-depth understanding of the context-based approach. This phase completed teachers orientation base as defined by characteristics A, B and C. 

Since the 1980s projects were launched in many countries with the goal of teaching chemistry through a context-based approach. A common characteristic of theses approaches was described by Bennett and Lubben (2006) as ... 

Parchmann, I., Graesel, C., Baer, A., Nentwig, P, Demuth, R., Ralle, B., the ChiK Project Group (2006). Chemie im Kontext A symbiotic implementation of a context-based teaching and learning approach. International Journal of Science Education, 28(9), 1041 - 1062. 

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