Teachers activism

Teachers actively collaborate with each other in detennining content and experiences, planning instructional strategies, and teaching in a manner that integrates instruction and emphasizes contextualized, appUed learning. 

Molecular modeling is a major new learning activity, and there are substantial obstacles that must be overcome before it can be used to best effect. Training is required so that teachers can decide what aspects of modeling will prove most useful, and students can make most effective use of their time. Funds need to be raised for the purchase of computer hardware and software. 

France lost many of its teachers during the first years of the Revolution. One of the solutions to the shortage of teachers was the establishment of the Ecole Normale in Paris. Fourier, as a teacher and an active member of the Popular Society in Auxerre, was invited to attend in 1795. His attendance at the shortlived Ecole gave him the opportunity to meet and study with the brightest French scientists. Fourier s own talent gained him a position as assistant to the lecturers at the Ecole Normale. 

Dnlling for Oil, Unit 4 Activity 4-4/Teacher, pp. 4-48 to 4—53. Washington, DC Teacher Training Program, National Petroleum Technology Office, Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. 

The catalytic community of the world records with sorrow the death of Sir Hugh Taylor, an active practitioner of the art of catalysis, an imaginative investigator of its scientific basis, an inspiring teacher of many, many catalytic chemists and physicists, and a leader in the field of catalysis for fifty years. 

Mentoring has also provided a practical alternative to conventional training courses, which are typically run in a manner resembling school classes (i.e. with one active player, the teacher/trainer, lecturing numerous passive recipients, the pupils/trainees). Until recently, training courses have been the... 

The first strategy is to rmdertake a superficial scan of mainstream textbooks that everyday situations have been connected to cormnon school chemistry textbooks. For example, student-exercises may contain informatiorr, about contaminants in a river such as lead salts, about acid-base indicators in plants or about food additives for the preservation of wine. However, implicit confusion may (and frequently will) occur when the textbook and the teacher aim at reaching the right answer, for example the correct calculation of the concentration of an additive in gram per litre or parts per million (ppm). Students may still pose questions such as How many glasses of wine can I drink before 1 will get sick What is the effect of alcohol on my body Why is the addition of sulphite to wine important Is the same fact tme for red wine Or even further Shouldn t the government prohibit the addition of sulphite In this way students can become personally involved in subjects that can be related to their learning of chemical substances, and even to atoms and molecules. But, the student-activities in mainstream school chemistry textbooks often are not focused on this type of involvement they do not put emphasis in the curriculum on personal, socio-scientific and ethical questions that are relevant to students lives and society. 

The terms laboratory work and practical work are used in the literatrrre without precise defirrition to embrace mtmerous activities in science irrstructioa According to Hodson (1990), the term practical work means tasks in which students observe or manipirlate real objects or materials for themselves (individually or in small groups) or by witnessing teacher demonstratiorrs. In an extended sense, practical work involves not orrly work in the formal chemistry laboratory or demonstratiorrs, but also ar r type of activity that involves tangible objects, and provides students the opportrrrrity to manipirlate and interact with chemicals and observe chemistry in action corrsequently, home laboratory kits and computer simulations of experiments are also included. 

Despite the fact that the students do not consider lecture demonstrations as effective as active performance of experiments as discussed previously, there is often the case that during experimental work vital observations are obscured by powerful, but less important stimuli. In such cases, demonstrations, rather than individual laboratoiy work, may be the best procedure. In a demonstration, the teacher has control and can focus attention on the salient observations (Johnstone Shuaili, 2001) and demonstrations can also form the basis for providing a broader technique for assessment of learning (Bowen Phelps, 1997). 

In Europe, the Practical Experimentation by Accessible Remote Learning (PEARL) project aims to develop a system to enable students to conduct real-world experiments as an extension of computer-based learning. To use the PEARL system, teachers must be familiar with how to provide tutor-student and student-student interactions for discussion, reflection, and experiment activities. This distance learning with technology also opens an avenue for learning lab work in science. 

Third, teaching practices might also be a factor that affects the effectiveness of multimedia tools. When using technological tools, students could benefit more from teachers who provide timely feedback, articulate expectations, model desired activities, and solve technical problems (Hoffman, Wu, Krajcik, Soloway, 2003). 

From the contents of the teachers reflective diaries, the following differences in the lessons provided could be observed (1) Some teachers added extra exercises in knowledge consohdation, (2) some teachers left out particular activities, (3) some teachers adjusted the duration of particular sections (Fig. 13.2), (4) teachers used different motivational approaches to facilitate learning, e.g. students were rewarded with marks for their success in the Test of Gained Knowledge at the School N° 4. The duration of particular parts of the teaching plan is given in Fig. 13.2. 

In different places in the outlines of teachers reflective diaries there are statements indicating that students interest in learning about chemical reactions has increased in comparison to previous years. Teachers mentioned the increase of students interest in the context of all three main factors that are incorporated in the LON approach, i.e. (1) Eveiyday life situations as the foundation of the learning process. (2) The learning process involves many students activities. (3) Chemical reactions are consistently presented in all three types of representation. Consequently, we assnme that those three factors are the main reasons for the increased interest of students in learning about chemical reactions. Each of the listed factors is described in detail below ... 

The learning process involves many students"activities Students interest increased because they liked playing an active role in the learning process (e.g. hands on experiments, constraction of representations of chemical reactions with the use of models). Those who were not used to such an approach from earlier teaching also improved their experimental skills and gained experiences through the work with models. In the reflective diaries of all the teachers, statements to support this point could be found as follows ... 

The approach puts students in an active role and increases their motivation for learning. Higher cognitive processes are also emphasized, because students have to make the analyses and draw the conclusions. [Teacher from School N° 4, general remarks to the approach]... 

Kochendorfer, L. (1997). Active voiee. Types of classroom teacher action research. Teaching and Change, 4 2), 157-174. 

The chemistry laboratory is a place for serious work. Do not perform activities without your teacher s permission. Never work alone in the laboratory. Work only when your teacher is present. 

Study your lab activity before you come to the lab. If you are in doubt about any procedures, ask your teacher for help. 

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