Pedagogy and advice

From our combined experiences as coordinators and instructors of large first-year chemistry classes, we have noticed that students need not only to master subject-specific concepts and problem-solving skills to be successful, but also to think deeply about effective study habits, time management and test-writing skills. Indeed, during individual meetings with students after each initial term test, we spend more time talking about these ideas rather than chemistry concepts.

If a chemist has never been in a lab accident, they have been lucky. Of course, luck is more likely to come to those whose mentors have learned from bad experiences and to those who have taken preventive measures seriously. 

Chemical reactions are the most exciting part of chemistry class. Over the past five years I have developed an experience-based chemical reactions unit that features instructional videos coupled with a small group laboratory experience, whole-class demonstrations, and an interactive “demo test” as a final assessment.

In her article “2016 Canadian Chemistry Contest: Worst discriminators” (March 2017, Chem 13 News) Jennifer Pitt-Lainsbury described her analysis of a CCC question with a low discriminating index and asked for comments (see boxes, below). She challenged us to look more critically at all of our tests and evaluations and ask whether they evaluate what we think they are evaluating. 

This article was first published online on the blog called Educational Theory and Practices, which is maintained by Stuart T. Haines, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Maryland. The blog is “random musings by people who think about educational psychology and the practice of instructional design.” We recommend you visit this blog for lots of interesting reading.

In Canada, one challenge is to excite indigenous peoples about science, and chemistry in particular. For many years, with a series of student colleagues, we have been taking a Chemistry Show to schools in remote communities in western and central Newfoundland, coastal Québec, Labrador and even Nunavut (see References).