Teaching Chemistry

As teachers we often tend to expect other countries to teach chemistry in much the same way as we do, but educational systems differ widely. At Bielefeld University we started a project to analyse the approach to chemical education in different countries from all over the world: Teaching Chemistry around the World. 25 countries have participated in the project. The resulting country studies are presented in this book. This book may be seen as a contribution to make the structure of chemistry teaching in numerous countries more transparent and to facilitate communication between these countries. Especially in the case of the school subject chemistry, which is very unpopular on the one hand and occupies an exceptional position on the other hand – due to its relevance to jobs and everyday life and most notably due to its importance for innovation capacity and problem solving – we have to learn from each others’ educational systems.

Contents: Introduction, Scope and Influence, Past Experience, Objectives and Aims, Teaching under Scheme, Methods of Teaching, Role of Teacher, Measurement and Evolution, Curriculum Development, Broadbased Curriculum, Enrichment of Controls, Planning the Lesson, Teaching Devices, Audio-Visual Aids, Role of Laboratory, A Rich Laboratory, New Trends, Place among other Discipline.

This book shares insights from within four major themes: Best practices of teaching and learning digitally, digital learning platforms, virtual visualisation and laboratory to promote learning in science, digital assessment, and building communities of learners and educators.

Two recent initiatives from the EU, namely the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Agenda are likely to have a major influence on European Higher Education. It seems unlikely that traditional teaching approaches, which supported the elitist system of the past, will promote the mobility, widened participation and culture of 'life-long learning' that will provide the foundations for a future knowledge-based economy. There is therefore a clear need to seek new approaches to support the changes which will inevitably occur. The European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) is a network of some 160 university chemistry departments from throughout the EU as well as a number of National Chemical Societies (including the RSC) which provides a discussion forum for all aspects of higher education in chemistry. This handbook is a result of one of their working groups, who identified and collated good practice with respect to innovative methods in Higher Level Chemistry Education. It provides a comprehensive overview of innovations in university chemistry teaching from a broad European perspective. The generation of this book through a European Network, with major national chemical societies and a large number of chemistry departments as members make the book unique. The wide variety of scholars who have contributed to the book, make it interesting and invaluable reading for both new and experienced chemistry lecturers throughout the EU and beyond. The book is aimed at chemistry education at universities and other higher level institutions and at all academic staff and anyone interested in the teaching of chemistry at the tertiary level. Although newly appointed teaching staff are a clear target for the book, the innovative aspects of the topics covered are likely to prove interesting to all committed chemistry lecturers.

Research into the educational effectiveness of chemistry practical work has shown that the laboratory offers a unique mode of instruction, assessment and evaluation. Laboratory work is an integral and important part of the learning process, used to encourage the development of high order thinking and learning alongside high order learning and thinking skills such as argumentation and metacognition. Authored by renowned experts in the field of chemistry education, this book provides a holistic approach to cover all issues related to learning and teaching in the chemistry laboratory. With sections focused on developing the skill sets of teachers, as well as approaches to supporting students in the laboratory, the book offers a comprehensive look at vicarious instruction methods, teacher and students' roles, and the blend with ICT, simulations, and other effective approaches to practical work. The book concludes with a focus on retrospective issues, followed-up with a look to the future of laboratory learning. A product of nearly fifty years of research, this book will be useful for chemistry teachers, curriculum developers, researchers in chemistry education, and professional development providers.

Continuous professional development of chemistry teachers is essential for any effective chemistry teaching, due to the evolving nature of the subject matter and its instructional techniques. Professional development aims to keep chemistry teaching up-to-date and to make it more meaningful, more educationally effective, and better aligned to current requirements. Presenting models and examples of professional development for chemistry teachers, from pre-service preparation through to continuous professional development, the authors walk the reader through theory and practice. The authors discuss factors which affect successful professional development, such as workload, availability and time constraints, and consider how we maintain the life-long learning of chemistry teachers. With a solid grounding in the literature and drawing on many examples from the authors' rich experiences, this book enables researchers and educators to better understand teachers' roles in effective chemistry education and the importance of their professional development.