Warren Beasley Department of Education Univsrsitv of Oueensland Brisbane 4067 Australia
I
High School Organic Chemistry Studies
sequencing of topics and recommended time allocation was considered to he very unsatisfactory. (3) . . The thematic develonment of the student text (as perceived by teachersj and the theme adopted by the majority of teachers were found to he similar, i.e. "functional group, structure and related properties." (4) Wide use is made of the two prepared films as well as the available student praeticals; exercises, and prohlems.
This article reviews the tradition of the teaching and learning of organic chemistry in senior high school courses. I t also includes an analysis of present student performance and possible directions of future chemistry programs. This report is based on research into the teaching and learning of organic chemistry in 90 high schools. Prior to the adontion of CHEM Studv as the basis of the high school chemistry curriculum, comments like these, offered hy Bishop and Gascoigne in 1961, seemed appropriate (1).
Owing tn the long neglect ofprganic chemistry. ..there is no tradition of teaching this subject in our schools. For at least the last thirty-five years no teacher has been required to teach any significantamount of organic chemistry. Consequently, very few people have had any experience either as a pupil or teacher, of the presentation of this subject at school level. The effectiveness of school programs which reflected the . purely descriptive aspects o i a few simple carhon compounds has been criticized hv Meehaa and l'rosser. They believe that the average chemistry student saw organic chemistry as an irrelevant and boring activity,to be learned hy rote when necessary, and avoided in the future. The shortcomingsoforganicchemistry studiesat that time were svmpcomatic of the rhemistry syllabus as a whole. School cours& were seen as a prerequisite to further study in chemistry. University chemistry teachers appeared to have an exaggerated expectation of the amount of factual knowledge which their entrants should ppssess and actually had a poor opinion of the schools' ability to develop more conceptual and theoretical topics (3). M e Designed Intention of the CHEM Study Materials The planned study of organir compounds i j seen as an application of prewously established principles ro the element carl~on(4). The central theme which is adopted in this one chapter of introductory organic chemistry is the importance of structure as contrasted with romvusition alone. This introductory segment of carbon chemistry builds on the previously established concepts relating to combustion of hydrocarbons acids and hases-acetic acid covalent bonding molecular architecture double bonds and isomerism These desien " factors which have been built into CHEM Study materials reflect an approach to organic chemistry which revresents the discioline of organic chemistrv. rather than to$how the r a m i f i c a t h of theestablished knowledge of the chemistrv of carbon. The opiniunioi teachers as to the effectivenessof the curriculum materials and their role in the instructional proc~as are summarized'as follows: (1) The presentation and development in the one chapter of the student text was considered to he unsatisfactory when compared to other major conceptual areas. (2) The content areas mentioned in the student text were considered to he satisfactory, hut the recommended
The Perceived Outcomes of Present Programs in Organlc Chemistry in the High School-The Teacher Vlew Ninety teachers completed a questionnaire which detailed 55 ohjectives that were appropriate for high school programs in organic chemistry. A sample of this questionnaire is provided in the table. The complete instrument contains 55 variables which lists, in student behavioral terms, those ohjectives which may represent the outcomes of present school-based programs in organic chemistry. Teachers were asked to indicate the possibility of students attaining these ohjectives after experiencing the present high school course. Several analyses were undertaken on the data in order to identify clusters of teachers, to establish the characteristics of the clusters, and whether in fact they differed from each other. The first analysis consisted of a principal components analysis followed by a varimax rotation. The varimax factor scores were then used in a Hierarchial Grouping Analysis to classify individuals into groups or clusters. Once basic clusters were identified. a discriminant analvsis was used - procedure . to determine hbw the clusters differed. Six groups of teachers were identified. These six groups may he descrihed in terms of seven factors which were identified after a principal components analysis of the raw data. These seven factors were named as follows: ~~
Factor I. (20.890variance) Discipline Centered Objectives Characteristic of the CHEM Study Materials. Factor 2. (16.1%variance) Development of a Social Awareness of the Application of Organic Compounds. FoctorS. (5.4% variance) Developments of Basic Laboratory Skills. Objectives of Present Program-The
Teacher Vlew
Impossible Unlikely Undecided Likely Very possible
1) Be aware of the scope of carbon chemistry and be able to relate the u s fulness and importance af organic compounds to every life. 2) Relate the formation of fossil fuels to once living materials. 3) Explain the formation of organic compounds from Inorganic compounds as in ohotosvnthesir. . 4) Cao.late me -rml and m o e u ar IamJlae of rlmple organlc cm%xnnds from qLantotatove analyss data of element compar laon 5) Be ante lo dent ty me mafecuar smnm of a compound ConIalnW slmple functional groups by an examination of i h chemical reactions.
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Factor 4. (4.4% variance) Understanding of the Chemistry of Specific Organic Compounds Relevant to Man's Needs. Factor 5. (3.8% variance) Knowledge of Traditional Preparative Methods and Reactions of Simple Hydrocarbons. Factor 6. (3.5%variance) Interpretation of Chemical Behavior hy a Mechanistic Approach. Factor 7. (3.2% variance) Understanding the General Nature and Origin of Organic Compounds. Each n o u n exnressed moderate support for student attainment of
