MODERNIZING the INTRODUCTORY HIGH-SCHOOL COURSE in CHEMISTRY* ELBERT C. WEAVER Bulkeley High Schaol, Hartford, Connecticut
Several factors entering the modern situation and. affecting teachers and p u ~ l sare analyzed. The present syllabus of the Diwision of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society i s found satisfactory for college prefiratory and diligent students, but a fiarallel course in general chemistry on a broader social basis is recommended to reach more pupils than are attracted to chemistry at present. The adaptations of this pandemic type of course to the high school are discussed.
Compared with the high school of two generations ago, new social problems of all sorts have appeared. Bill hasn't passed his algebra. Bill's father was taken up by the police last month for dope peddling. Mike was apprehended for petty thievery. The Juvenile court has placed Mike's conduct under probation. Our fathers may boast of long wintry walks to reach the schoolhouse before the days of buses, but today a social hazard is before our pupils which is more subtle and probably greater than the physical handicap met + + + + + + in former years. N ORDER to approach the subject of modernizing Within the high school's bulging walls we find that the high-school course in introductory chemistry, lowered average intelligence is positively correlated let us make an examination of some of the impor- with lowered initiative. Just as the fathers of these tant factors in the status quo. These factors affectboth pupils are content to wait on a benevolent despot in pupils and teachers in the secondary field, and some Washington to solve their economic ills, so many of relate especially to teachers of chemistry or other physi- our pupils study as if waiting for a deus ex machina to cal sciences. solve their mental problems painlessly. The method Some significant trends in high-sch&1 population of solving troubles by enterprise on the part of the indicate an increase in numerical pressure on the high individual and group seems to have given way to school. While just a few years ago from 75 to 80 pff dependence on a paternalistic government to unravel cent. of all boys and girls of high-school age entered the social tangle. Making allowaxices for the lackasecondary schools, public and private, recently this daisical spirit of adolescence, the pupils reflect their number has climbed to 85 or 90 per cent. with a ten- parents' attitude by apathy and lack of initiative. dency upward. This crowding toward the high school Possibly teachers encourage this attitude a bit by their of those who otherwise might be employed has been method of teaching and the character of chemistry textaccentuated by difficulty in securing employment and books. For example, many texts are ,@ten in such a by age restrictions connected with the N. R. A. manner that one might infer that all the chemical probThroughout the country ten years ago $P to 45 per lems have been solved. cent. of those pupils who entered finished.,highschool. ~ h changing , trends in choices of subjects of instrucToday 60 to 75 per cent. of an entering class graduates. tion by our pupils is interesting. Today a strong This June in one high school in Hartford the figures emphasis is being put on the social studies. ~~d~ were 262 graduating out of 406 entering, 64.5 Per cent. languages and mathematics have fallen a bit in popuThis situation has been met almost entirely by in- larity. ~h~ classics are at a low ebb of popularity, creasing the size of classes and increasing the number F~~ pupils in a chemistry class will understand a of classes met by a teacher. The burden has reference to the Bible or classical literature, and fewer entirely on the shoulders of the teacher. still will appreciate the derivation of chlorine from The more extensive claim of the high On Our ~Xopds. The popularity of the sciences has held up adolescent population has multiplied problems at a well in spite of the tendency to avoid "hard" courses, time when the public purse is ill prepared to deal and a slight percentage increase of enrolment in with them adequately. As might be expected, truancy physics and chemistry is noted, has increased. About 20 per cent. of all pupils in high Along with these trends in the pupil population go school today have an I. Q. of 90 or less, and in this just as delinite changes affectingthe teachers personally g o u p we find a greater number of those who in and professiona~y. Salaries are down, Dr. Shuttlecourses of the curriculum. worth' of Yale concludes that at present the real wages * Contribution to the on thecourseof teachers have shrunk 30.2 per cent. while the in-
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in General Chemistry" conducted by the Division of Chemical
Education of the A. C. S. at Cleveland, Ohio, September 13,1934.
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' S ~ L E W O RSch. T H&', Soc., 39,477 (Apr. 14.1934).
come of wage earners has increased 27.8 per cent. The burden from diminished income falls heavily on teachers who as municipal employees have been doing relatively more than other citizens toward economy in the municipal budget. The compensation of teachers is usually based on a salary schedule. In many places this schedule has been suspended or disregarded. As a consequence, younger teachers are especially hard hit. In one case a teacher of six years' experience will receive only $80 more per annum than a teacher without experience. While the income has shrunk with no relief in sight for several years, the load of classroom and laboratory hours has increased with likewise no respite in view. Increases in actual load may be put conservatively at 10 to 20 per cent., the latter figure meaning at least one more class per day. The economic difficulties encountered by teachers of chemistry need not be mentioned here. Summer-school and extension studies have been curtailed. Professional development has been hampered by lack of means. Retrogression of the professional spirit is evident on all sides. Particularly unfortunate is the situation with respect to professional organizations. In this connection the information is drawn from three New England professional organizations, especially the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers. At a time when a need was never greater for professional growth of teachers in service by exchange of ideas and gain of inspiration by discussion of mutual problems, lack of means and limit of physical endurance keep teachers away from local chemical and educational meetings. For the same reasons it is more difficult to arrange an attractive program for such meetings. Publications of these professional groups are in financial difficultiesa t a time when the need of continuing bulletins and reports is obvious. Industrial trips and excursions which add so much to pupil and class interest have, been curtailed. Pupil projects in chemistry are fewer and less extensive. Other adjustments in respect to apparatus, chemicals, methods of instruction, and textbooks have been made to meet the demands of the modern situation. Many of these changes are in the direction of a less spirited and more routine course in beginning chemistry. Such are some of the important factors in the gloomy picture of the modem situation as it affects teachers in the secondary schools. The outline of chemistry as proposed by the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society and the College Entrance Examination Board has proved satisfactory in general to both colleges and secondary schools. But all studies in the curriculum are subject to constant study and evolution. The designers of the course showed broad vision and good understanding. The problem to consider is the reaamination of the course in the light of modern needs. Is the high-school syllabus in chemistry as d e h e d by the Division of Chemical Education of the American
Chemical Society still serviceable? Recent studies indicate that it is. The syllabus which is a compromise between the requirements of the college and noncollege pupils has been and still is successfully used. This syllabus is flexible enough to meet local conditions, adequate for college entrance requirements for our better pupils, and comprehensive enough for the serious pupils who wish a general view of the field of chemistry. Like other highschool courses it is usually without charm or interest to those seniors in the lower 40 per cent. of their class. Modern trends toward socialization of thought indicate several changes in the chemistry course pending or in progress in several places. Unit organization of subject matter is coming to be substituted for arrangement according to the periodic law. In this organization of the chemistry course more emphasis is given to the relationship of chemistry to life processes, agriculture, the home, business, and industry. For example, oxygen is not studied for its own sake, but a detailed study of burning, rusting, and breathingcan be made to cover the points under that topic which are essential knowledge for life. Many schools today are dissatisfied with traditional subjects as taught. Sporadic attempts to organize science courses on a diierent basisare significant. For example, at Natick, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, general scienceis to be taught for four years, thusemphasizing the unities and minimizing the divisions between the sciences of physics, biology, and chemistry. An effort to arouse pupil interest through projects and investigations along broad lines will be made. Such a course will use reference books, will tax the ingenuity of a skilful teacher, and will behaddicapped by thelackof a suitable single textbook. Dangers arising from lack of organization and a subsequent jumble resulting in the mind of the pupil are obvious. Further dissatisfaction is witnessed by courses in household chemistry, agricultual chemistry, industrial chemistry, or practical chemistrywhich are found rather frequently as introductory courses in secondary schools. Each course mentioned places emphasis on some particular phase of the subject in an effort to meet a particular need. The fact that none of these types of courses is more widely adopted indicates that while some problems are solved aad some questions answered other difficultiesabound so that on the whole they are but slight advances over the traditionally organized course. The modem demands are insistent. We cannot afford to neglect the call to modernize our syllabus continually in the light of further advances made in the subject matter or to better adapt what is taught to the needs of the pupils. One of the outstanding developments in college chemistry is the success and growth in adoption of the pandemic course in chemistry for freshmen who do not expect to go on with the subject, but who wish to gain the cultural values of chemistry and the viewpoint of the chemist. The pandemic course is found in over seventy colleges.
A solution of the highschool problem seems to be the use of parallel courses in chemistry. A secondaryschool adaptation of the pandemic course seems compatible with the modem demands for the other course in chemistry in the high-school curriculum. In such a course a pupil would learn about what a chemist does without himself taking the first steps toward becoming a chemist. Just as a pupil may study art appreciation and music appreciation in a modern high school without training to become an artist or a musician, so the base of the chemistry course can be widened. An understanding of the scientific concept of the nature of matter would be developed. An attempt a t a bit of the philosophy of science would underlie the whole course. The mathematics of chemistry would be incidental rather than an end in itself. More emphasis would be placed on the meaning of a chemical formula than on the memorizing of a long list of formulas for substances. Here one would find more emphasis on the scientificmethod of problem solving. Equations of the simpler sort only are needed. Much material which might properly be considered physics and biology would be included incidentally to the exclusion of details of commercial processes. A few significant processes should be studied in detail in order to gain the viewpoint of the industrial importance of chemistry. Where applicable, demonstrations by the instructorassisted by pupils will enliven the classroom. Here will be given an opportunity to use all visual aids to instruction available. The microscope or microprojector, often neglected in our traditional course but much used in commercial laboratories, should be used to advantage to show evidences of molecular motion, salt crystals, crystal structure of metals and alloys, fibers, and growth of crystals as in replacement experiments. Pupil laboratory work in such a course will be much less detailed and less extensive than is required by the College Entrance Examination Bmrd a t present. More attention will be paid to the physical phenomena of chemical experiments. Historial accounts of the development of theories can be used to emphasize the workings of the scientific method. Brief biographies and extracts from the original writings of those who have made contributions to the advancement of science will add the human interest factor. Some material strange to the chemistry course a t present should be included. Because conscientious teachers as a group have no conception of the meaning of leisure, they too often neglect the problem which
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leisure time places before their pupils. Avocational interests and hobbies should find a place. For example, with the study of iron can be mentioned handwrought articles with illustrations of lamps, andirons, or plant stands made by the pupils or teacher. Metal working as a hobby might again be introduced with study of brass, copper, and some of the newer alloys. Along with the study of silica can come a brief account of Indian archaeology and its charm. Associations are easily made between chemical topics and hobbies: ceramics-hand-made pottery; cellulosephilately, wood-working, hand-weaving, basketry, sewing; pigmeuts-art work; metals--coin collecting; fertilizers-gardening. Our efforts a t character development have been seriously handicapped by the supreme govemment of this country. When the morals of a country are "nothing about which we can shout 'Hail, Columbia' " the ideals of the adolescent receive a severe jolt. The repudiation of solemn promises, the use of empty threats, and the violation of the constitutional rights of individuals to private property are among the characteristics of the govemment of our modem times. Contrasted to politics, science brooks no falsehood or deception. Things happen because it is too improbable that they will not happen. The example of those who, like Madame Curie, have sacrificed in order to learn truth will still inspire moral stamina. Also we should not neglect opportunities for constructive education when we study alcohol and narcotics. Some textbooks are on the market today which have definite trends in the pandemic d i r e c t i ~ n . ~A textbook and laboratory manual b a s ~ don this still broader social viewpoint are in preparation. The parallel course in chemistry can be administered in a large high school, but in a small high school will such a course be adapted to the needs of the 10 or 15 per cent. of the pupils who expect to go to college? As far as life goes, yes; but as a basis for college work, no. In the larger high schools the college group can still be cared for by using the traditional course in chemistry in separate divisions. For a few pupils in the smaller high schools who expect to go to college, supplementary work will have to be given to bridge the gap. Thus modernizing the high-school course in introdnctory chemistry would seem to be €he offering of two courses where practicable, one with the traditional college preparatory syllabus, and the other a general course of the pandemic type.
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' SEGERBLOX, W , "Changing trends in teaching chemistry." Sck. Sci. Math., 34, 524-5 (May,1934).
