Videotape Programs in the Chemistry Teacher's Education on the University Level Andrzej Burewicz and Harma Guliriska Adam Mickiewicz University, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznah, Poland In Poland, as in other European countries, people who teach chemistrv both a t the priman, and secondarv level must hold uni&rsity degrees. chemistry as a school iubject is taught in the primary school for the last two years and then for three years in most high schools. Chemistry, like most school subjects, is obligatory. Normally taught 2 hours a week, this load increases to 3 hours per week for classes of biochemical profile. Due to such universality of chemical education and the role and importance of chemistry in everyday life, there arises a necessity to educate highly skilled chemistry instructors. Hence, in the curriculum of 5-year chemistry studies, besides maior courses one can find a mouv of science education courses. At Adam Mickiewicz ~ n i c e r s i i ychemistry students take 225 clock hours during the all studies. This group . . includes methodology of chemistry teachiug (90 hours), psychology and pedagogy (both in the same lead). A course on chemistry teaching methodology is supervised and taught by the Chemistry Teaching Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry a t our university. The main task of this laboratory is to prepare the students for the profession of chemistry teaching. This course begins in the third year of students and is continued through the fourth and fifth years. I t covers lectures. laboratory exercises, seminars, and two four-week practice'teaching assignments in the primary and secondary school. The practice teaching experiences give students a chance to get acquainted with school life, visit chemistry lessons or classes in other related subjects, and, in the end, to teach a lesson individuallv. During our course in ihemistry teaching, besides many traditional teaching techniques (microteaching, work with a computer, application of many devices in chemistry teachina), we also use 15-20-min promams that we have recorded 0 n - v videotapes ~ ~ and that demonstrate many fundamental issues in the teaching of chemistry. They also provide both basic and broadened knowledge of the theory of chemistry teaching, a t the same time showing its application under classroom conditions. These recordings (the first in our country of such type) were prepared in our laboratory as a collaboration between our specialists, experienced teachers, and a group of high school students. The subject matter of these videotapes concerned four major topic groups: general information including the history of chemistry teaching, teaching methods, tools used in chemistry teachiug, and, finally, particular problems within this field. The first group is an introduction to chemistry teaching comprising Renerd theories on teaching-learning methods. It contains programs devoted to the authors of didactic systems and their works. Moreover, it also diicusses the field of interests, major achievements, and the research work ol'particular 1.ahoratories of Chemistrv Education in Poland. The second group focuses on iliustrating the way a chemistry teacher prepares a class, including the following components: s u b j & n a t t e r prep&ation (the analysis of'the program, content of the textbook devoted to the subject, and ways to complement it), methodological preparation (goals taxonomy, content determination by graph and matrix anal~
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Journal of Chemical Education
ysis, choice of teaching methods, and appropriate didactic n of the lesson). devices). and formal ~ r e ~ a r a t i o(svllabus ~ h e s programs e aiso tackle some issues associated &th the application of various methods in chemistry teaching, oral, problem, and program methods. hey present such framents of chemistry lessons performed according to these methods using trans&encies,-videotapes, slides, a n d program texts. Furthermore, they discuss the theoretical hackground, the rules, and the feasibility and efficiency of the chosen methods. A separate mouv. of oromams covers teacher demonstra. lions and student experiments. These videotapes enable understandina of the methodological and technical mistakes most oftenmade by young teachers during classes on application of particular methods. Presenting a lesson, these proa t erroneous or correct &formanee and-the grams structure of problem laboratory exercises and suggest the wav to carrv them out. fn the &up of programs dealing with technical aspects of chemistry instruction and the methodology of application of various educational means, the use of overhead projectors and various kinds of models in chemistrv teachina is considered. Professional sets of transparencies as well & dynamic ones made in our laboratow, along with their preparation and applirati(~nin chemistr; classes are presented.' It is important to introduce mathematical problems to chemistryclasses. They should provide not only a positive motivation to study but also foster the rules of intellectual activation of students by making them observe a logical sequence of phases in problem solving. Hence, another videotape displays fragments of lessons devoted to solving of chemical calculation problems using either the algorithm or Polya's method. In the group of programs dealing with extracurricular activities, chemical magic show organization and exemplary nonot~ligatorymeetings for studenfs especially interested in chemistry are discussed. It is emphasized that the didartic process should take after the research one. All the aforementioned tapes can be used in many waysduring lectures on chemistry teaching, seminars, and, in particular, laboratory exercises, for resident and extramural students as well as by teachers for continuing their education. The studies we have carried out enable us to conclude that these video programs, owingto their audio-visual methods, problem groups, and cyclic structure, may he employed to explain many didactic problems. Their all-around merits considerably enhance the ability to associate theory with practice and to use the acquired knowledge under school conditions. These programs were subject to inside verification. A cycle of didactic programs recorded on videotapes in our laboratory together with the methodological guidebook beine prepared at the moment. mav be used as instruction aids 06ro;ide the basis for theaudi*visual means of teaching chemistry. Such a guide with a dynamic graphical makeup and pn,t~iem-arrangedcontent, comprisesfoir hlocks: info;mational, subject marter block (concerning the correlation
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of the recording with actual programs and present textbooks on chemistry instruction and school hooks); methodological, widely presenting the possibilities of using this guidebook in the process of teaching; and corrective block, among others giving the examples how to correct the knowledge acquired on working with these programs.
The collection of videotapes with didactic programs made in our laboratory provides academic teachers, students, primary and high school teachers, and even pupils with allaround devices illustrating different types of methodological programs.
Volume 67
Number 1
January 1990
57
