Chemunity News

Newsletter for chemistry educators at the elementary, high school, and college levels.

This book presents comprehensive results from case studies of five innovations in science education that have much to offer toward understanding current reforms in this field. Each chapter tells the story of a case in rich detail, with extensive documentation, and in the voices of many of the participants-the innovators, the teachers, the students. Similarly, Volume 3 of Bold Ventures pre sents the results from case studies of five innovations in mathematics education. Volume 1 provides a cross-case analysis of all eight innovations. Many U.S. readers certainly will be very familiar with the name of at least one if not all of the science innovations discussed in this volume-for example, Project 2061-and probably with their general substance. Much of the education community's familiarity with these arises from the projects' own dissemination efforts. The research reported in this volume, however, is one of the few detailed studies of these innovations undertaken by researchers outside the projects them selves. Each of the five studies was a large-scale effort involving teams of researchers over three years. These teams analyzed many documents, attended numerous critical project meetings, visited multiple sites, conducted dozens of individual interviews. The team leaders (Atkin, Huberman, Rowe), having spent much time with science education over long careers, looked at these innovations through many lenses. It was a daunting task for each team to sift through the mountains of detail in order to bring the most compelling themes to the surface.

Developing microscale chemistry experiments, using small quantities of chemicals and simple equipment, has been a recent initiative in the UK. Microscale chemistry experiments have several advantages over conventional experiments: They use small quantities of chemicals and simple equipment which reduces costs; The disposal of chemicals is easier due to the small quantities; Safety hazards are often reduced and many experiments can be done quickly; Using plastic apparatus means glassware breakages are minimised; Practical work is possible outside a laboratory. Microscale Chemistry is a book of such experiments designed for use in schools and colleges, and the ideas behind the experiments in it come from many sources, including chemistry teachers from all around the world. Current trends indicate that with the likelihood of further environmental legislation, the need for microscale chemistry teaching techniques and experiments is likely to grow. This book should serve as a guide in this process.

This book presents comprehensive results from case studies of five innovations in science education that have much to offer toward understanding current reforms in this field. Each chapter tells the story of a case in rich detail, with extensive documentation, and in the voices of many of the participants-the innovators, the teachers, the students. Similarly, Volume 3 of Bold Ventures pre sents the results from case studies of five innovations in mathematics education. Volume 1 provides a cross-case analysis of all eight innovations. Many U.S. readers certainly will be very familiar with the name of at least one if not all of the science innovations discussed in this volume-for example, Project 206l-and probably with their general substance. Much of the education community's familiarity with these arises from the projects' own dissemination efforts. The research reported in this volume, however, is one of the few detailed studies of these innovations undertaken by researchers outside the projects them selves. Each of the five studies was a large-scale effort involving teams of researchers over three years. These teams analyzed many documents, attended numerous critical project meetings, visited multiple sites, conducted dozens of individual interviews. The team leaders (Atkin, Huberman, Rowe), having spent much time with science education over long careers, looked at these innovations through many lenses. It was a daunting task for each team to sift through the mountains of detail in order to bring the most compelling themes to the surface.

Scientists nationwide are showing greater interest in contributing to the reform of science education, yet many do not know how to begin. This highly readable book serves as a guide for those scientists interested in working on the professional development of K-12 science teachers. Based on information from over 180 professional development programs for science teachers, the volume addresses what kinds of activities work and why. Included are useful examples of programs focusing on issues of content and process in science teaching. The authors present "day-in-a-life" vignettes, along with a suggested reading list, to help familiarize scientists with the professional lives of K-12 science teachers. The book also offers scientists suggestions on how to take first steps toward involvement, how to identify programs that have been determined effective by teachers, and how to become involved in system-wide programs. Discussions on ways of working with teachers on program design, program evaluation, and funding sources are included. Accessible and practical, this book will be a welcome resource for university, institutional, and corporate scientists; teachers; teacher educators; organizations; administrators; and parents.

'Teaching in context' has become an accepted, and often welcomed, way of teaching science in both primary and secondary schools. The conference organised by IPN and the University of York Science Education Group, Context-based science curricula, drew on the experience of over 40 science educators and 10 projects. The book is arranged in four parts. Part A consists of two papers, one on situated learning and the other on implementation of new curricula. Part B contains descriptions of five major curricula in different countries, why they were introduced, how they were developed and implemented and evaluation results. Part C gives descriptions of three projects that are of smaller scale and their materials are used as interventions in other more conventional curricula. There is also a contribution on some fundamental research where modules of work are written to examine how best to design context-based curricula. Finally, Part D consist of two chapters, one summarising some of the findings that came out of the chapters in the three earlier parts and the second looks at the future.