Discovering Chemistry and Some Departmental Comments John Davik York Community High School 355 W . St. Charles Rd. Elmhurst. IL 60126 vation, gathering, and organizing skills, the student will learn to think critically, to suspend judgment until all the information has been gathered, and to learn to reach logical conclusions. In my opinion the need for these skills transcends Le Chatelier's Principle, Quantum Theory, or any other sacred cows that I or other chemistry teachers have stabled in our supply rooms. Here are the characteristics of my teaching that I regard as significant hut certainly not unique.
In my chemistry teaching, I am committed to a discovery approach that is laboratory oriented. I like the CHEMS materials and regard video taping as agreat asset to the classroom teacher. I helieve in ability grouping of students, and I frown nnon a highlv denartmentalized format for testine students. views as a chemistry teacher, I shill include Along wich some of my views as chairman of a science department.
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CHEMS Having taught chemistry with a traditional textbook, with IAC materials. and with CHEMS. mv ureference is CHEMS. This does not'mean that I regard ~ ~ ~ ' C H Ematerials MS as ideal, hut then I doubt if any teacher uses materials without some of his or her own modifications and supplements. I use the second edition of the CHEMS materials published by Prentice-Hall. In the last few years it seems that criticizing the CHEMS uroeram has been somewhat in vogue in certain chemistry teach& circles. I believe that the CHEMS philosophy, regardless of which publisher's materials you use, is sound. A laboratory-oriented approach linked to a discovery process enables one to teach more than iust chemistrv content. I t is srgued that rtudcnts do not always "diimver" u prim riplt. from the data that they cdlect, in spite o f t h e fact thnr the\ h . 3 managed ~ t u uhtain a dewnt set
