On the Inclusion of Inorganic Chemical Reactivity in High School Chemistry: ~hekeactivityNetwork E. K. Mellon Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306
J. J. Zuckerman (I) has defined descriptive chemistry as:
. . . syntheses, reactions, and
commercial processes, physical properties, phases at various temperatures and pressures, structures, habits and solubility behaviors that we can see, smell, touch and even hear. . . Recent discussions of descriptive inorganic chemistry emphasize the chemical-reactivity aspects of the subject (2) over what R. G. Rajan describes (3)as the older, more traditional focus:
. .. a few industrial processes, or the preparation, manufacture, properties and uses of elements and compounds.. . However one defines it, the steady erosion of descriptive chemistrv in the hieh school chemistrv curriculum is recorded in various curriculum descriptions in this Journal (4-9) althoueh hieh school teachers themselves have eenerallv always been keen on its inclusion (10-15). his erosion is arguably one of the major reasons for today's rampant chemophobia. Reactivity Network
The Reactivity Network project with funding from the NSF and the ACS Societv Committee on Education will consist of a nationwide organization of chemical educators interested in the inorganic chemical-reactivity aspect of descriptive chemistry (What reacts with what? How far? How fast?). The objectives of the Reactivity Network are t o translate reactivity data from the primary literature into some 30 reviews for high school techers (mans of whom are not well prepared in chemistry) and curriculum developers and t o disseminate that information nationwide. The reviews will be prepared by writing teams composed of content experts and top-notch, highly professional chemistry teachers and will appear for the most part in the Journal of Chemical Education. At a later stage, reprint collections will be nuhlished. I t is from the Reactivity Network that the writing teams will be recruited. Presentlv in the first staees of formation. the reactivity network willconsist of chemical educators who have an interest in descri~tivechemistry and who are counected with local networks of local high school chemistry teachers. Every effort will be made to produce reviews appropriate to the target audience, hence the presence of high school chemistrv teachers on each of the writine" teams. The reviews will contain frequent directions for performing simple reactions. direction stressine drivine forces. rates. catalvsis. - . and manipulation of equilih;ium states by t'emperature and coucentration change. Abstract models are to be de-em~hasized to the advantage of simple, qualitative models. Needs Assessment While the proposal to the NSF for support of the Reactivity Network project was under preparation, a needs assessment was carried out. This consisted of an opinionnaire that 240
. Journal of Chemical Education
was sent during the summer of 1986 to 17 Florida high school chemistry teachers ranging in teaching experience from one to more than 30 years. Thirteen of the teachers had been participants in the 1984 NSF-Sponsored Honors Workshop for teachers of High School Science in Florida, while the other four were enrolled in CHS 5455C (16), agraduate-level teaching methods course taught in the Chemistry Department a t the Florida State Universitv. All of the teachers were considered very well qualified &d high in professional activity and interest, and they constituted a representative sample of the teachers who will be recruited into the reactivity network. The term "descrintive inoreanic chemistrv" as used in the " opinionnaire was defined as instruction in inorganic reactivits (both kinetic and thermodvnamic) founded orincioallv . . upon careful observations of l ~ b o r a t o ~exercises y and demonstrations and organized so as to promote cognitive development. Fifteen teachers responded (return rate = 88%). Their opinions are summarized in the table in order of increasing standard deviation (0.-1). A standard deviation near zero means that most teachers chose the same option, and a standard deviation of one or greater means that the teachers' resDonses varied widelv. The teachers were aiso asked what percentage of the high school chemistry instructional year should be devoted to descriptive inorganic chemistry. Responses averaged 33.5% with a standard deviation of 12.6%. The respondents were in unanimous agreement that student interest would be increased b s the provision of more hands-on, reaction chemistry in the high-school chemistry curriculum. This is in agreement with the findings of B. George, V. P. Wystrach, and R. Perkins (17) who surveyed 554 undergraduate chemistry majors in colleges and universities in New England. In answer to the auestions "Whv,did you choose chemistry as a mnjor?" the most important factor identified was "hieh antitute for science" followed in second place by "turned on by laboratory work, experimentation, or research ex~erience". Teacher iesponses exhibited the most variance (largest standard deviation) on the assertion that their owncurricula contnined room for more descriptive inorganic chemistry. Although there was strong agreement that more inorganicreactivity material should be added to an already jampacked high school curriculum, the nagging question ahout what is ro be disolaccd remains. 'Chis auestion was debated exhaustively at (he 1978 McMaster ~ v h e r e n c eon New Directions in the Chemistrs Curriculum (18).'l'he conclusion of that conference was that many of the more complex aspects of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics are quite difficult to teach even in an oversimplified fashion in a beginning high school chemistry course and could with advantage be reserved for following courses. ~~~~~
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Dlsseminatlon The average high school chemistry teacher is not a member of the ACS, and, unfortunately, does not read the Jour-
Responses ol the T e a c h e r s Polleda
Respmse
Numerical Average
Standard
-Deviation (opt)
Teachers fen very sbongly mat student interest in hlgh school chemistry could be increased if there were more handwan, reaction chemistry (1.8.. color changes, crystal gram, gas evoiulion, etc.) inoluded.
A Possible Solution
Decades ago when school textbooks were filled with descriptive chemistry and all chemistry teachers read this Journal, finding reactivitv information was simple. With the many changes & t h e curr&dum, however, suchinformation has now been buried in the chemical literature, all but inaccessible by the average teacher. Speaking of the opinion of historians 100 years hence regarding today's chemical edut t G . .M. Hodner (19) state " . . . cation. W. T. L i ~ ~ i n c oand historians may a i k note that our greatest flab was a failure to reduce the endless mass of chemical information into a comprehensible, learnable, professionally acceptable package that can be used hv. beginners. . .". I t is the aim of the
