Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers
by J. Emory Howell
A Year To Make a Difference You must be the change you wish to see in the world. —Mahatma Ghandi The beginning of a new year always brings with it a feeling of anticipation, a desire to achieve new goals, and a certain urgency to accomplish. Beginning the last year of the 1900s seems somehow to amplify these feelings. This week I was reminded twice of the challenge that lies in focusing on those things that we can change and not being fettered by those we cannot. The first example occurred in my office on a Monday afternoon. A young woman was considering the choice between entering graduate school or seeking a high school teaching position. After approximately 10 years in the workforce, she had entered college and was now within a semester of graduation. While pursuing her studies she had served as a substitute teacher in her home community, believing the experience would affirm her longstanding desire to teach. The behavioral characteristics of some students seemed to be at odds with her memories of high school only a dozen years earlier. Now she was questioning whether she could make a difference in young lives or if she should give up the idea of teaching in high school in favor of graduate degrees in her discipline, which would lead to a career in postsecondary education. Although I assured her that she could indeed have a great impact on high school students, I empathized with the concern she was feeling. The second example occurred the same day, in a class for chemistry majors who are preparing to teach high school chemistry. While considering the importance of performance assessment, with discussion centered on a JCE article (Rasp, S. L. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 64–66), one class member asked why we only discussed and read about what teachers could do to improve the learning environment, with nothing being said about the student’s responsibility. Sensing there was considerable emotion behind the question, I encouraged the individual to explain why he raised the question. He related his experience during the previous week in observing the class of an experienced and accomplished teacher. Although the teaching methods were appropriate and the delivery of instruction was excellent, several students returned to class the next day with incomplete assignments and a seeming air of indifference. As I looked around the class I could see others nodding their heads in agreement; evidently they had noticed similar behavior in their field experience observations. Soon, others in the class began discussing their similar experiences. In response I opened up the discussion to probe possible reasons for an apparent lack of self-motivation among the students. The list that resulted need not be repeated here because is so familiar. After relatively brief discussion, the class came to the consensus that even though the issues raised were out of their control, this did not grant them the right to surrender willingly to defeat. They would not allow themselves to give up and not put forth their best efforts as teachers, for in that surrender they would provide students with an example that would be easily lived up to—one of apathy and no self-motivation.
Secondary School Feature Articles 䊕 A Low-Cost Activity for Particle Conceptualization at the Secondary Level, by Robert W. Milne, p 50. 䊕 The Gravity of the Situation, by Damon Diemente, p 55.
A multitude of resources are available to help the high school chemistry teacher stay abreast of developments within the field and aid in the development of new methods. JCE is a rich source of practical information and research-based discussion of issues. In this issue are articles that may be of particular interest to high school teachers: misconceptions about molecular structure and bonding (page 124); a low-cost animation approach to conceptualizing reactions (page 50); using “amounts tables” to detect flawed stoichiometric reasoning (page 52); and instructions for student construction of a Ag/AgCl reference electrode (page 97). A report prepared by Steve Long contains a summary of articles about chemistry learning that have appeared in The Science Teacher (page 17). Each article is methodically crossreferenced to JCE and other sources. An article on page 8 contains a list of anniversaries of scientists who contributed to chemical understanding, which can be used to provide historical perspective to topics studied in first- and second-year chemistry classes. This month’s JCE Activity Sheet involves lightsticks, which can be used to introduce kinetics or to study chemiluminescence. During the coming year we hope that you will find many articles that will be helpful to you—a new experiment or demonstration, a new teaching strategy, more effective assessment, connections with other disciplines, or updates on the results of chemical research. As always we welcome your suggestions for topics you would like to see included, your service as reviewers, and especially your contributions. High School Program, National ACS Meeting in Anaheim, Barbara Sitzman, Chair Mark your calendar! March 22, 1999 is designated “High School Day” at the National American Chemical Society Meeting in Anaheim. The high school committee with Southern California Section (SCalACS) support is planning a special day of workshops, presentations, and a high school/college interface luncheon. Paul D. Boyer, professor emeritus and Nobel Laureate, Department of Biochemistry, UCLA, will be the featured speaker. Teachers may choose from a variety of hands-on workshops such as computers in the chemistry lab, polymer chemistry, and gel chromatography. Division of Chemical Education symposia of particular interest to high school teachers will be offered on Sunday and Monday. Tickets for the luncheon are limited and will be sold only through preregistration. The high school committee welcomes chemistry teachers of all levels—high school, college, and university—to attend the program.
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 76 No. 1 January 1999 • Journal of Chemical Education
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