reaping the benefits of chemical education research

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Chemical Education Today www.JCE.DivCHED.org Vol. 82 No. 10 October 2005 Journal of Chemical Education 1431 Editorial Reaping the Benefits of Chemical Education Research It is my belief that chemical education research studies provide many results that are of practical benefit to those of us in the classroom. Consequently, one of my major goals for the Chemical Education Research column in this Journal is that authors clearly state how their work is applicable to our day-to-day teaching. In this issue three groups of authors have achieved this goal and provided much for all classroom teachers to think about. Jean, Huffman, and Noh (p 1558) have studied students’ problem-solving ability. Helping students to develop problem- solving ability is a major objective of most science courses. These authors indicate that both using a four-stage problem-solving strategy and using thinking aloud pair problem solving im- proved students’ problem-solving ability. The problem-solving strategy used was derived from Polya’s (1): 1. Understand the problem 2. Devise a plan 3. Carry out the plan 4. Reflect on the process and results The authors concluded that “verbal interactions between solv- ers and listeners can help students become more cognizant of both their own thinking and the thinking of other students”. A study by Lin, Lee, and Treagust (p 1565) shows that even in the second semester of a school year, when teachers have had time to get to know their students well, there is “a large, significant gap between teachers’ estimations of student performance and actual student achievement”. In several cases teachers’ predictions of how their students would perform on a test measuring the students’ qualitative understanding of sto- ichiometry were low by more than 40%. The students were at eighth-grade level, the sample size was small, and the authors warn against generalizing to all teachers and students, but I would be willing to bet a good steak dinner that this gap ap- plies to most of us. The study also found that “the more op- portunities for students to discuss, explain, and present their ideas, the better students’ conceptual understanding would be”. The third study, by White, Brown, and Johnston (p 1570), indicates that “few chemistry and biochemistry se- niors have given much thought to social issues where informa- tion from their disciplines might be helpful in understanding those issues”. Though this study did not measure it, I would predict that most of us would also overestimate our students’ ability to apply what they have learned in formal chemistry courses to social and political issues. The authors conclude that students fail to make connections between the chemical prin- ciples and facts they have learned and societal issues. They rec- ommend that in courses throughout the curriculum students should be encouraged to develop such skills. Several themes underlie these studies. One is that in our rush to cover the material, we often go so fast that students are unable to assimilate and make connections among the many things they are learning. Developing problem-solving compe- tence requires learning subskills, connecting and integrating them, and receiving feedback to indicate whether the skills have been mas- tered and used appropri- ately. Another theme is that communication among students should be encouraged and that all students should be af- forded the same opportunities to discuss their ideas and an- swer questions. Interacting with other students can often provide the feedback needed to develop problem-solving and other skills and often provides a means by which students become more aware of the societal implications and applica- tions of the subjects they are studying. For example, White, Brown, and Johnston found that face-to-face presentations by peers were effective in changing students’ opinions regard- ing societal issues. A third theme is that we teachers could benefit from more effectively applying all four stages of Polya’s problem-solving strategy to the problem of teaching chemistry. If we consis- tently overestimate the efficacy of what we are doing, then we don’t really understand the problem and we need to think more about how to define it. This can lead to better plans for ad- dressing the problems we perceive and should allow us to carry out those plans more effectively. Most important of all, we need to spend more time reflecting on our own teaching practices and the results we have achieved in light of the new perspec- tives brought by chemical education research. One of the great things about teaching any subject is that we are constantly in touch with learners and thereby are en- couraged to learn ourselves. This is certainly true in chemistry teaching, and chemical education research has a lot to contrib- ute to what we know about how to teach. In this area we are on what has been referred to as a J curve or a hockey-stick curve—and we are still on the ice. But we are starting to climb the curve. We will all benefit in the future from well thought out studies that evaluate and compare different approaches to teaching and learning. Reading the Chemical Education Re- search column in this Journal and similar papers in other jour- nals is a good way to climb that curve faster. Literature Cited 1. Polya, George. How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 1945. …we need to spend more time reflecting on our own teaching practices and the results we have achieved in light of the new perspec- tives brought by chemical education research.

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Page 1: Reaping the Benefits of Chemical Education Research

Chemical Education Today

www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 82 No. 10 October 2005 • Journal of Chemical Education 1431

Editorial

Reaping the Benefits of Chemical Education Research

It is my belief that chemical education research studiesprovide many results that are of practical benefit to those ofus in the classroom. Consequently, one of my major goalsfor the Chemical Education Research column in this Journalis that authors clearly state how their work is applicable toour day-to-day teaching. In this issue three groups of authorshave achieved this goal and provided much for all classroomteachers to think about.

Jean, Huffman, and Noh (p 1558) have studied students’problem-solving ability. Helping students to develop problem-solving ability is a major objective of most science courses. Theseauthors indicate that both using a four-stage problem-solvingstrategy and using thinking aloud pair problem solving im-proved students’ problem-solving ability. The problem-solvingstrategy used was derived from Polya’s (1):

1. Understand the problem

2. Devise a plan

3. Carry out the plan

4. Reflect on the process and results

The authors concluded that “verbal interactions between solv-ers and listeners can help students become more cognizant ofboth their own thinking and the thinking of other students”.

A study by Lin, Lee, and Treagust (p 1565) shows thateven in the second semester of a school year, when teachershave had time to get to know their students well, there is “alarge, significant gap between teachers’ estimations of studentperformance and actual student achievement”. In several casesteachers’ predictions of how their students would perform ona test measuring the students’ qualitative understanding of sto-ichiometry were low by more than 40%. The students were ateighth-grade level, the sample size was small, and the authorswarn against generalizing to all teachers and students, but Iwould be willing to bet a good steak dinner that this gap ap-plies to most of us. The study also found that “the more op-portunities for students to discuss, explain, and present theirideas, the better students’ conceptual understanding would be”.

The third study, by White, Brown, and Johnston(p 1570), indicates that “few chemistry and biochemistry se-niors have given much thought to social issues where informa-tion from their disciplines might be helpful in understandingthose issues”. Though this study did not measure it, I wouldpredict that most of us would also overestimate our students’ability to apply what they have learned in formal chemistrycourses to social and political issues. The authors conclude thatstudents fail to make connections between the chemical prin-ciples and facts they have learned and societal issues. They rec-ommend that in courses throughout the curriculum studentsshould be encouraged to develop such skills.

Several themes underlie these studies. One is that in ourrush to cover the material, we often go so fast that studentsare unable to assimilate and make connections among the

many things they arelearning. Developingproblem-solving compe-tence requires learningsubskills, connectingand integrating them,and receiving feedbackto indicate whether theskills have been mas-tered and used appropri-ately. Another theme isthat communicationamong students shouldbe encouraged and thatall students should be af-forded the same opportunities to discuss their ideas and an-swer questions. Interacting with other students can oftenprovide the feedback needed to develop problem-solving andother skills and often provides a means by which studentsbecome more aware of the societal implications and applica-tions of the subjects they are studying. For example, White,Brown, and Johnston found that face-to-face presentationsby peers were effective in changing students’ opinions regard-ing societal issues.

A third theme is that we teachers could benefit from moreeffectively applying all four stages of Polya’s problem-solvingstrategy to the problem of teaching chemistry. If we consis-tently overestimate the efficacy of what we are doing, then wedon’t really understand the problem and we need to think moreabout how to define it. This can lead to better plans for ad-dressing the problems we perceive and should allow us to carryout those plans more effectively. Most important of all, we needto spend more time reflecting on our own teaching practicesand the results we have achieved in light of the new perspec-tives brought by chemical education research.

One of the great things about teaching any subject is thatwe are constantly in touch with learners and thereby are en-couraged to learn ourselves. This is certainly true in chemistryteaching, and chemical education research has a lot to contrib-ute to what we know about how to teach. In this area we areon what has been referred to as a J curve or a hockey-stickcurve—and we are still on the ice. But we are starting to climbthe curve. We will all benefit in the future from well thoughtout studies that evaluate and compare different approaches toteaching and learning. Reading the Chemical Education Re-search column in this Journal and similar papers in other jour-nals is a good way to climb that curve faster.

Literature Cited

1. Polya, George. How to Solve It: A New Aspect of MathematicalMethod; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 1945.

…we need to spend more

time reflecting on our own

teaching practices and the

results we have achieved in

light of the new perspec-

tives brought by chemical

education research.