Chemistry You Need to Know

1. Research supporting the curriculum Chemistry You Need to Know

2. “We believe, after examining the findings of cognitive science, that the most effective way of learning skills is “in context”, placing learning objectives within a real environment rather than insisting that students first learn in the abstract what they will be expected to apply.” • From the Executive Summary of What Work Requires of Schools from The Secretary’s Commision on Achieving Necessary Skills, US Dept of Labor, June 1991 A quote that sums it all up

3. What’s wrong with the traditional curriculum?

4. Traditional Chemistry Curriculum Learn all the concepts Apply them to real-life scenarios

5. Students don’t see connections between concepts Students don’t see application to their lives Students never read the “application” included in traditional textbooks The order makes sense to those that know the whole story Problems with the Traditional Curriculum

6. What does a contextual approach look like?

7. Contextual Chemistry Curriculum Learn as scientists learn Arrange concepts in need-to-know order

8. The concepts are fit to the theme…not the other way around! Text, practice problems and labs utilize the theme Themes are chosen that interest students Inquiry labs are used when appropriate What makes up a contextual program?

9. Research Supporting Contextual Teaching

10. Working memory is the memory we can currently access and use People have between 5 and 9 “slots” of working memory that can be used at any given time As they understand and integrate knowledge together, they begin to form chunks—each chunk then only ties up one working memory slot The more information that is chunked, the more information you can deal with at one time Working Memory

11. Although people have between 5 and 9 working memory slots available, how many are used for other things: • Daydreaming • Distractions • Emotional concerns • Physical concerns • All the other things teenagers think about Working Memory & Teenagers

12. Motivation is the allocation of working memory slots When students are motivated, they are more willing to allocate more or all of their working memory slots to the task at hand rather than other concerns in their life Increased motivation = increased ability to process, integrate and understand information Motivation

13. Contextual teaching increases motivation, as shown in survey data to come later in this presentation Therefore, contextual teaching leads to increased allocation of working memory slots Contextual Teaching and Motivation

14. The mind makes determinations on which pieces of information to discard and which to move to long-term memory As much as 90% of the information in short-term memory can be discarded within 24 hours Short-term and long-term memory

15. In order for information to move from short-term to long-term, the information must: • Have meaning or relevance to the learner • Be understood by the learner • For example, you may have understood the plot of a novel you read many years ago, but if it had no personal meaning or relevance, it’s now forgotten (Johnson) Getting information into long-term memory

16. Many programs provide relevance in side-bars, special vignettes, or after the “learning” has taken place • This is called “application” • Application and contextual teaching are not the same • In application, you’re providing the meaning and relevance too late—you need to provide the context and meaning first, before you ask students to learn Providing Relevance

17. Research Supporting Content Choices & Placement

18. Deters completed a survey of over 100 college professors and published the result in J Chem Ed (October 2003) • 7 topics were statistically in the top for importance: • Basic skills (units, sig figs, graphing, etc.) • Moles • Dimensional analysis • Stoichiometry • Nomenclature • Atomic structure • Balancing equation College opinions HS Chemistry

19. Besides the top 7 topics, many professors indicated in comments that they preferred student that were comfortable talking about science, had positive attitudes (not afraid of chemistry), an appreciation for science in their lives and problem-solving abilities rather than those with more content memorization Other studies have shown this as well (Gold, Barnard) This is supported by research showing 70% of material learned in science courses is forgotten within 1 year if not used—they’ll forget most of the content between the HS course and their college course (Shumba) College opinions on HS Chemistry

20. Deters surveyed 571 HS chemistry Teachers and published the results in J Chem Ed (Nov, 2006) The HS teachers were much more focused on content than college professors There was a list of topics that more than 90% of the teachers agreed should be in the class & are currently being taught There was another list of topics that they agreed should be in the class but that they didn’t have time to teach (acid/base, collision theory, etc.) HS Teachers’ Opinions

21. The topics desired by college professors and thought most important by HS teachers are in the first 6 chapters of the text (which are written to be followed sequentially) • Placement of some of the “wish” list topics in these chapters will allow more teachers to get to them • The topics that far fewer HS teachers agreed upon are in the last 6 chapters (which are written to be ala-carte and do not depend on each other) to allow for flexibility and personal interest and goals Integration of this research

22. Research supporting lab format and integration

23. The National Research Council released America’s Lab Report in 2006. This was a summarization of a large body of research on lab programs and suggestions for making lab programs effective Their main suggestion was the creation of Integrated Instructional Units America’s Lab Report

24. Labs should be integrated in the section—used before content introduction as much as possible Saving labs until the end of the section, chapter or having them in a separate lab manual does not promote integration in the students mind with the content in lectures, discussions or readings This curriculum contains embedded labs—placed where they fit in the reading/progression of the course. Integrated Instructional Units

25. The report also suggested the use of student-designed labs Inquiry is used in this text by having students design their own procedures for investigations at least 1 time per chapter Use of inquiry

26. Research shows that novices at problem-solving processes need significant guidance • This allows them to devote more working memory slots to the science and not the design process • The text includes a section teaching students how to design labs and uses significant guidance in the beginning • Guidance is “weaned” away as students become more comfortable with the design process (begin to “chunk” it) Guidance during Inquiry

27. Results of student attitude surveys during field testing

28. 15 questions given as pre-survey. • Previous science courses & books • 15 questions given as post-survey • Questions were matched, but pertained to this class and this book. Student Questionnaire

29. Textbooks apply science to my life • Contextual Curriculum • +1.68 • Traditional Curriculum • +0.54 Contextual gained 1.14 more than Traditional

30. I’m interested in chemistry • Contextual Curriculum • +0.49 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.56 Contextual gained 1.05 more than Traditional

31. I feel chemistry is relevant to my life • Contextual Curriculum • +0.71 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.13 Contextual gained 0.84 more than Traditional

32. I can see how different science concepts relate to each other • Contextual Curriculum • +0.63 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.07 Contextual gained 0.70 more than Traditional

33. I like science class • Contextual Curriculum • +0.37 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.29 Contextual gained 0.66 more than Traditional

34. I am able to read and understand science textbooks • Contextual Curriculum • +0.97 • Traditional Curriculum • +0.34 Contextual gained 0.63 more than Traditional

35. I feel science is relevant to my life • Contextual Curriculum • +0.46 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.11 Contextual gained 0.57 more than Traditional

36. I enjoy labs • Contextual Curriculum • +0.10 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.46 Contextual gained 0.56 more than Traditional

37. I feel comfortable “doing science” • Contextual Curriculum • +0.31 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.23 Contextual gained 0.54 more than Traditional

38. I feel comfortable using math in science • Contextual Curriculum • +0.19 • Traditional Curriculum • -0.19 Contextual gained 0.38 more than Traditional

39. I understand what chemistry is about • Contextual Curriculum • +0.89 • Traditional Curriculum • +0.57 Contextual gained 0.32 more than Traditional

40. I feel like I’ve “done science” in science classes • Contextual Curriculum • +0.84 • Traditional Curriculum • +0.54 Contextual gained 0.30 more than Traditional

41. I learn better if science concepts are applied to my life • Contextual Curriculum • +0.40 • Traditional Curriculum • +0.20 Contextual gained 0.20 more than Traditional

42. I enjoy designing my own lab procedures • Contextual Curriculum • +0.25 • Traditional Curriculum • +0.62 Contextual lost 0.37 more than Traditional, but still showed a gain in student attitude

43. Curriculum Components

44. Each chapter has: • Introductory activity • Sections learning material needed to understand the theme. Each has practice problems including conceptual questions • Integrated labs, using the theme product whenever possible • At least one student-designed lab per chapter • Chapter culminating project integrating all concepts and applied to the theme (varying from pre-designed labs to student-designed labs to research and creative writing assignments). • Chapter summary and review What’s the big picture?

45. Support for the Teacher

46. Practice problem answers Teaching tips Demonstrations Lab prep/timing Lab hints & sample data Outside resources Teacher’s Wrap-Around Edition

47. PowerPoint presentations for each section including animations of molecular processes • Color images (in PPT format) from the text • All labs to allow customization & printing/copying for students to take into lab with them rather than carrying their book • Computerized EvamView TestBank • All questions with numbers and most with chemical formulas are algorithm questions, meaning there is almost an infinite possibility for different versions at the push of a button. Available in EDITABLE Digital form

48. Reading guides for each section • Practice problems for sections with mathematic application • Section quizzes for each section • Grading Rubrics for each inquiry lab and performance assessment • Pre-made tests for each section • 2 matched short versions & 2 matched long versions In Print & EDITABLE Digital

49. References

50. US Department of Labor: The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000, June 1991 Brooks, David. http://dwb4.unl.edu/TheoryPaper/compth.html, a paper integrating learning theories (working memory, motivation, etc.) Johnson, Elaine. Contextual Teaching and Learning: What it is and why it works, Corwin Press, 2002 Deters, Kelly; What should we be teaching in high school chemistry, J Chem Ed, October 2003 Deters, Kelly; What are we teaching in high school chemistry, J Chem Ed, November 2006 References