Chemical concepts and the college chemistry curriculum

1958 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence E. Strong ◽  
O. Theodor Benfey
Keyword(s):  
Chemistry Curriculum ◽  
College Chemistry ◽  
Chemical Concepts

Finding the connections between a high-school chemistry curriculum and nano-scale science and technology

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 903-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Blonder ◽  
Sohair Sakhnini
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
School Level ◽  
Chemistry Curriculum ◽  
High School Chemistry ◽  
High School Level ◽  
Nano Scale ◽  
Chemistry Research ◽  
Chemical Concepts

The high-school chemistry curriculum is loaded with many important chemical concepts that are taught at the high-school level and it is therefore very difficult to add modern contents to the existing curriculum. However, many studies have underscored the importance of integrating modern chemistry contents such as nanotechnology into a high-school curriculum. When students are exposed to nanotechnology, they perceive chemistry as more relevant to their life, and more modern than the chemistry they usually study at school, and consequently, their continuous motivation to study chemistry and related subjects increases. In the current study we identified topics in the high-school chemistry curriculum in Israel into which the essential nano-scale science and technology (NST) concepts can be integrated. Insertion points for all 8 NST essential concepts were found. We discuss the importance of ways in which chemistry educators can implement the results for updating the chemistry curriculum, thus making it more modern and relevant to the actual chemistry research that is conducted.

Mobility handicapped individuals in the college chemistry curriculum: Students, teachers, and researchers

1981 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Todd A. Blumenkopf ◽  
Anne Barrett Swanson ◽  
Robert P. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Chemistry Curriculum ◽  
College Chemistry

scholarly journals Conceptual confusion in the chemistry curriculum: exemplifying the problematic nature of representing chemical concepts as target knowledge

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-334
Author(s):  
Keith S. Taber
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Chemistry Curriculum ◽  
Disciplinary Knowledge ◽  
Formal Curriculum ◽  
Official Document ◽  
Chemical Concepts ◽  
Official Curriculum ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Conceptual Confusion

Abstract This paper considers the nature of a curriculum as presented in formal curriculum documents, and the inherent difficulties of representing formal disciplinary knowledge in a prescription for teaching and learning. The general points are illustrated by examining aspects of a specific example, taken from the chemistry subject content included in the science programmes of study that are part of the National Curriculum in England (an official document published by the UK government). In particular, it is suggested that some statements in the official curriculum document are problematic if we expect a curriculum to represent canonical disciplinary knowledge in an unambiguous and authentic manner. The paper examines the example of the requirement for English school children to be taught that chemical reactions take place in only three different ways (i.e., proton transfer; electron transfer; electron sharing) and considers how this might be interpreted in terms of canonical chemistry and within the wider context of other curriculum statements, in order to make sense of neutralisation and precipitation reactions. It is argued that although target knowledge that is set out as the focus of teaching and learning cannot be identical to disciplinary knowledge, the English National Curriculum offers a representation of chemistry which distorts and confuses canonical ideas. It is suggested that the process of representing the disciplinary knowledge of chemistry as curriculum specifications is worthy of more scholarly attention.

When do students recognize relationships between molecular structure and properties? A longitudinal comparison of the impact of traditional and transformed curricula

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia M. Underwood ◽  
David Reyes-Gastelum ◽  
Melanie M. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
General Chemistry ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Structure And Properties ◽  
Chemistry Curriculum ◽  
Traditional Curriculum ◽  
College Chemistry ◽  
Chemical Structures ◽  
Longitudinal Comparison ◽  
The Impact

The ability to use a chemical structure to predict and explain phenomenon is essential to a robust understanding of chemistry; however, previous research has shown that students find it difficult to make the connection between structure and properties. In this study we examine how student recognition of the connections between structure and properties evolves during the first two years of college chemistry courses. In addition, we investigate how an alternative general chemistry curriculum (Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything (CLUE)) impacts students' understanding during these first two-years. Using discrete-time survival analysis to analyze student responses to the Implicit Information from Lewis Structures Instrument (IILSI), we found that it takes multiple semesters for students enrolled in a traditional curriculum to recognize that chemical structures can be used as models to predict chemical and physical properties. Students in the CLUE curriculum, however, tend to make this connection earlier than a matched cohort of students from a traditional curriculum, and this advantage is maintained throughout the two semesters of organic chemistry. In general, the control group takes an additional year of organic chemistry to reach the same level as the CLUE students after a year of general chemistry.

Using concept mapping to uncover students' knowledge structures of chemical bonding concepts

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikita L. Burrows ◽  
Suazette Reid Mooring
Keyword(s):  
Concept Mapping ◽  
Concept Maps ◽  
Concept Map ◽  
Covalent Bonding ◽  
Knowledge Structures ◽  
Think Aloud ◽  
Chemistry Curriculum ◽  
Covalent Bonds ◽  
Student Interviews ◽  
Chemical Concepts

General chemistry is the first undergraduate course in which students further develop their understanding of fundamental chemical concepts. Many of these fundamental topics highlight the numerous conceptual interconnections present in chemistry. However, many students possess incoherent knowledge structures regarding these topics. Therefore, effective assessments are needed to identify these interconnections. The use of concept-mapping and think-aloud interviews to investigate the knowledge structures of undergraduate organic chemistry students' regarding bonding concepts is the focus of this research study. Herein, we spotlight the bonding concepts of electronegativity and polar covalent bonds. In essence, the study found that understanding of electronegativity was weak among students with low concept map scores (LS students) compared to students with high concept map scores (HS students). Additionally, several common misconceptions of electronegativity were revealed through student interviews. An examination of LS student interviews further revealed that a lack of understanding of electronegativity led to a misunderstanding of polar covalent bonding. The think-aloud interviews were a reflection of the connections students made with the concepts of electronegativity and polar covalent bonding in their concept maps. Implications for the chemistry curriculum are also presented.

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