Informal chemical education

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. 

The treatment of chemistry within the formal educational system is addressed in the other chapters in this section. Until the solutions proposed there are widely implemented, the provision of opportunities for informal chemical education will be the main way of changing negative attitudes. Such attempts are necessary because of the major significance of chemical ideas for personal, social, and cultural life we take up the issue of justification at the end of this chapter. 

It will thus be impossible to reconcile the traditional view of chemistry, usually portrayed as a series of chemical changes represented as chemical equations, with a narrative view of the subject that would seek to portray the hves and achievements of individuals within the times and contexts of events. Even the textbook chemical equations would have to be represented as the culmination of many failed and partially successful efforts at analysis and synthesis. Yet the effort to move on from the traditional view would be worthwhile, for chemistry would then, more faithfully, be portrayed as a human endeavour set within temporal and social circumstances. This portrayal would, we argue, enable the subject to be seen as set within the general warp and weft of human creativity. We will show that the notions of situation, context, and narrative are currently often poorly represented in opportunities for chemical education (see also Chapter 5). To do this, and then to see what might be done to increase their contribution to future provision, we look at the various ways in which opportunities for informal chemical education is provided, starting with books. 

What is needed if informal chemical education is to be effective First, it must be intrinsically entertaining, in that the public must want to participate. We have shown (Stocklmayer Gilbert, in press) that the public awareness of science is a personal matter in which the first step must be to... 

Irwin Wynne (1996) have demonstrated that the public will engage seriously with complex scientific issues when their lives are deeply affected. Often, this process is painful and difficult. Effective promotion of chemistry should not wait for such desperate times. Those of us who have pursued this discipline in our professional lives understand its appeal. We should not find it so difficult to share our enthusiasm for chemistry with the rest of the community. We must be ambitious in setting out our aims for informal chemical education. 

We could find no comprehensive treatment of the desirable outcomes that are possible for informal chemical education. The nearest we got was a discussion of possible aims for the chemical literacy of young people before they leave school (Nuffield, 2001). These seem a reasonable basis for the informal chemical education of the whole population. 

The book must address the concerns of the major stakeholders in chemical education if it is to effectively support the future development of the field. These stakeholders will be associated with all branches of formal chemical education (primary and secondary schools, vocational colleges, universities) and of informal chemical education (science and technology centres, books, TV). It is therefore simultaneously addressed to the following groups and for specific purposes ... 

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