This course looks at the knowledge base of students and explores ways to apply their knowledge to the teaching of chemistry at the high school level. It includes approaches to teaching specific chemical concepts, design of laboratory and active learning exercises, stockroom procedures, laboratory safety, disposal of chemical waste, concurrent teaching practice and the literature of chemical education. Two hours lecture, three hours lab per week. It is offered in odd numbered years.
Goals: To allow students to apply their knowledge in chemistry to the high school curriculum and the day-to-day operation of a high school chemistry facility.
Content Outline: (Please note: This is the list of topics that will be covered continuously throughout the course. Topics will not be addressed necessarily in this strict order.)
- The high school chemistry and the national and state science standards
- National and state standards as they apply to chemistry
- Typical high school curricula and their connection to the standards
- High school textbooks
- Selected topics from college and the application to high school
- Concepts of atoms, molecules and ions
- Stoichiometry
- Chemical reactions
- Energy changes in chemical reactions
- Student presentation of topics
- Laboratory experiences as teaching tools
- Use and adaptation of existing experiments
- Design and use of new experiments
- Use of CBLs (computer based learning devices) in data collection
- Integrating the laboratory with the non-laboratory work
- Limitations of laboratory experiences in the high school setting
- Safety procedures and equipment
- Teaching practice component
- Assisting in 52-115 and 116 laboratories or other experiences
- High school stockroom management and safety
- Organization of stockroom
- Material safety data sheets
- Storage procedures including appropriate storage furniture
- Disposal of chemical waste
- Safety
- Literature of chemistry education
Laboratory:
Typical laboratory activities could include:
- Turning a standard type of laboratory into a discovery based experience.
- Turning a lab experiment idea into a working experiment- logistics, writing instructions, safety concerns.
- Design of a high school chemical storage room.
- Performing common laboratory experiments used in high schools and critiquing them.
- Use of common equipment often found in high school labs and developing strategies for their best use.
- Teaching practice in first-year BU chemistry courses; helping students set up experiments and answering questions under the supervision of the assigned professor.
Methods:
- Lecture/discussion format in class supplemented with various presentation media.
- Project-based learning (PBL) activities.
- Student presentations.
- Teaching practice experiment in freshman laboratories at BU.
- Adaptation of experiments from the chemical education literature and published manuals
For more information, contact
Dr. Bruce Wilcox
at 570-389-4145 or bwilcox@bloomu.edu |
