Intellectual Skills Development via Chemistry The model citizen in a democratic society should he a thinking, reasoning individual who is able to examine critically arguments and evidence as a part of the process of arriving at conclusions. Ideally the educational system in this society should be able to help students attain such skills. Despite America's long-standing emphasis on education, our process falls short in developing these important abstract reasoning abilities that underlie the duties of citizenship. One might reasonably argue that science courses contain many of the elements necessary to enhance students' thinking and reasoning skills; however, they are often taught from a "training" rather than an educational point of view. Science has been described as an elegant, complex product of human intellect and imagination. As such its potential impact on our intellectual history, our philosophical views, and our societal processes is significant. The study of science can contribute muchto the development of the thinking and reasoning skills of students in a number of ways. Thus, the study of introductory areas of science generally starts with a minimum of peripheral knowledge, prior vocabulary, and complexity of evidence. Accordingly, subsequent steps of analysis, inference, and concept formation are usually simpler, clearer, and less complex than in many other disciplines. Consequently, science offers simpler and more accessible starting points and less-involved examples on which a growing mind can begin to exercise its operations. This is not to suggest that such vehicles cannot he found in the humanities and social sciences, only that they are more easily discernable in the sciences. Teachers of science can help develop, cultivate, and enhance their students' intellectual capabilities by making them aware of what is going on in the intellectual domain (apart from the specific subject matter) as well as engaging in a process of teaching that stresses these elements. I t is important that teachers not only teach what we know, but also raise such questions as How do we know?, and Why do we accept or helieve what we know?, when studying a new body of material or approaching a problem. When they complete their formal education, many of our graduates are in the possession of received knowledge that is not sustained by understanding. Understanding comes with an internal awareness of, and confidence in dealing with, certain intellectual conditions. Students need to be clearly and explicitly aware of gaps in available information, recognizing when a conclusion is reached or a decision made in the absence of complete information, and learn totolerate the uncertainty. I t is important for students to recognize when one is taking something on faith without having examined the evidence in favor of the assertion. The mature mind understands that many social, economic, and political decisions-as well as decisions in the
realm of science-are rarely, if ever, made with complete information at hand; a developing mind can he trained to do so within the context of learning about chemistry. The study of science can help students learn to discriminate between observation and inference, between established fact and suhseauent coniecture. Manv students have ereat difficulty makLg such discriminations. The study ofchemistry provides numerous opportunities to expose students to learning situations in ways that illuminate the bases for such decisions. For example, the study of science contains the basis for recognizing that words are symbols for ideas and are not the ideas themselves. The mature mind recognizes the necessity of using only words of prior definition, rooted in shared experiences, in formulating a new definition, and it avoids being misled by technical jargon. Students should begin to understand the value of probing for assumptions-particularly implicit, unarticulated assumptions-behind a line of reasoning. They need to he aware of the consequences of drawing infrrrnces from data, ohservntims, or other e\,idence and to recognize when conclusions cannot be drawn. Equally important is the ability to discriminate between inductive and deductive reasoning. The time has long passed when we can teach students all they need to know. The principal function of education must shift to a process of helping students establish their own intellectual individuality by giving them conceptual starting points and an appreciation of what i t means to learn and understand a subject so that they can continue to read, study, and learn without perpetual formal instruction. Students need to he able to test theii own lines of reasoning and conclusions for internal consistency, and to develop intellectual self-reliance. Becomine conscious of one's own thinkine and reasoning processrs is perhaps the m o s sophisticated reasoning skill, and it rim he acauired thruueh a studv ofchemistw. This goal cannot, howeve;, he attained u s i n i t h e usual didacticapproach currently employed at most levels of education in which scientific concepts are forced upon students. Students must be eiven time.. explicit . help and encouraeement, and repeated practice to enhance their awareness of these important thought processes.'rhey must he urged tostand back and examine the reasoning processes in which they have engaged and to articulate them in their own words. They must discover that theshort-term rewards thry receive when they learn by memorizing without undrrstanding are unacceptable. They must be moti\,ated to swk the route of more demanding inquiry. Chemistry is a vehicle ior such processes and uwhers should begin tn use it as such whether their students are likely to become professional scientists or not. ~~
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JJL
Volume 62
Number 1 January 1985
1
