Frank L. Wiseman, Jr. Greenville College Greenville, Illinois 62246
An Experiment-Oriented Approach to Teaching the Kinetic Molecular Theory
Most laboratory activities used in college chemistry courses follow the time-honored annroach in which students nerform a stated set of operations and observe what occurs. ' k i s prot techniques, cedure allows the student to ~ e r f e c lahoratorv helps in the understanding bf concepts, and aids i n the learning of individual chemical reactions. At some point, when students become involved in undergraduate research or enroll in a graduate program, they must develop the ability to inquire . . into s prohlrm and ask their own questions, dwign rhrir iwn experiments, and form and trst hypl~theses.It i, the vie\\ of this author that thii nrncves oi inauirv. which should characterize all professional research aciivi&s, should begin early in the course sequence intended for the training of scientists. Also, in chemistry courses for nonscience majors, the inquiry annroach has value since students often lack the enthusiasm to iearn chemistry that is presented in the traditional manner. In all college chemistry courses, the inquiry or discovery approach may he more useful than has been recognized generally. The terms inquiry and discovery refer to the technique of allowing and encouraging students to learn by personal discovery through experimentation. This approach has been praised by many ( 1 4 ) , and there are many papers in the educational literatwe rewrtiue the successful use of the inauirv method in elementar; andlhigh school biology, physicsand mathematics courses (1-2). and manv other discinlines (3). However, a search of the literature reveals that t h e i s e of this method in colleee chemistrv courses had not been extensive. When a person learns something by personal experience, it is remembered quite easily thereafter. For instance, chemists are especially prone to remember those findings that they have discovered in their own research. In this case, no laborious memorization, review of notes, or other learning techniones commonlv used in the classroom are needed. In the inquiry method, questions are posed and materials are provided which students use to seek answers to those auestions and, therefore, actually discover or confirm concepts and facts in the lab for themselves. T h e inauirv method. the a p ~ r o a c h taken in research, hegins.the leAnihg process with experimentation rather than ending with it, thus .giving - the personal . inwlremrnt u,nh th(t materiril which aids in learning. hlans college students do nut operate at the formnl operntional 1-eve1atcordin:: to the dt.w:lupment ichrrna of %get (7-10). This means that they hnve difficulty thinking about ahstrart conrep& and visualiing phgsirnl e n t i t l e buch ni inoms~whtch thry cannot sw. Au:urdini: to Herron . i ) it, may he that the disru\,ery method of teaching is more helpful t h m thorlplr~in those the trrtd~tinnidmethod rn de cvlopinr:i~~rn~ol itudents who hm.e nc
