*Organizer of the Symposium "Challenges of Teaching Chemistry in the twenty first Century" in the 11th Asian Chemical Congress
The Asian Chemical Congress (ACC) is held every other year as a tradition. Following the 10th ACC which was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in October 2003, Seoul, Korea was chosen as the place to hold the 11th ACC. Chemists from the member societies of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS) gathered to strengthen the cooperation in chemical research and development under the theme "For the Quantum Leap of Asian Chemistry."
The Symposium on Chemical Education titled as "Challenges of Teaching Chemistry in the Twenty First Century" was one of the 26 Symposia that were held during the 11th ACC of FACS. A total of 22 papers both at the oral and poster sessions were presented from 11 countries, such as Australia, Brunei, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and the United States.
Various essential discussions formed about the teaching and learning of chemistry at the symposium. These included fundamental concerns in chemistry education: Chemistry curriculum, web-based learning, effectiveness of teaching/learning, and professional development for chemistry teachers.
First, there have been a variety of approaches to develop and to design chemistry curriculum in Asia and Australia. Constructivism is a curriculum approach to learning chemistry. This perspective is in direct contrast to the active and interactive curriculum assumed by proponents of the constructivist approach, who regard students as active constructors of knowledge (Driver & Oldham, 1986; Shulman, 1987). A major goal of a constructivist curriculum is to provide various learning experience for students' active construction of knowledge (Dana et al, 1997). Contents in the curriculum, selections of instructional objectives, higher standards to achieve, and the value placed on the more robust understanding facilitated by constructivism were discussed.
Secondly, a web-based learning system has been developed and is now used by many Asian countries. Computer programs and documents are written by conscientious chemistry educators worldwide to assist students. Web-based learning systems usually consist of two basic components, a server side and a client side (Fang et al, 2007; Reid, 2007). According to Reid (2007), the web servers contain instructional materials such as course contents, assessment units including individualized automated assessments, and learning analysis through which student performances are collected and reported. Both instructors and students on the client side can access information whenever they want, from wherever there is a computer and Internet access. The web-based learning system is designed to complement classroom instructions, and offers almost unlimited flexibility and customization possibilities for instructors and enhancement of creative learning for students. Instead of a static graphic in a book or chart, for example, a system may have animated tutorials and displays of molecular structures. Various elements of a compound can be highlighted to help students visualize how atoms are connected to form molecules.
Thirdly, there are a few researches in order to increase the effectiveness of teaching/learning chemistry. Constructivism is an approach to teaching based on research about the way of learning and the nature of knowledge. The constructivist's view maintains that people construct knowledge as they interpret new information and reconstruct what they already know (Driver & Erickson, 1983; Hewson, 1984; Roth & Rouchoudhury, 1994). Learning is not simply a process of adding knowledge into one's head. Rather, learning is an active process in which the learner gets information and constructs personal interpretations and meanings (Driver & Oldham, 1986). Viewing scientific knowledge in this way colors the way educators understand classroom learning. For a constructivist teacher, the classroom is a place where students are actively involved in building scientific meaningul learning (Stofflett, 1998). The significance of the constructivist's position towards learning is that it places the learner at the center of the learning process. What is learned depends on prior knowledge, cognitive strategies, and the interests and purposes each student brings to the learning environment (Driver & Oldham, 1986). Constructive teaching is based on the belief that students learn best when they gain knowledge through exploration and active learning. Textbooks are replaced by hands-on materials, and students are encouraged to think and explain their reasoning instead of memorizing and reciting facts.
Lastly, diverse efforts shape professional development for chemistry teachers. Chemistry teachers are learning professionals who have knowledge of subject matter and pedagogical content, and skills (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995; Shulman, 1987). Both knowledge and skills can be used in the planning of instructions and they are further developed through professional learning experiences (Loucks-Horsley et al, 1998). Education administrators and professional developers strive to define what teachers need to learn in order to minimize the gap between chemistry teachers' goals and their performance (Schuster & Carlsen, 2006).
It is worthwhile to share and to discuss with researchers from other countries about a variety of topics such as: how to develop a chemistry curriculum; the implementation of computers and information; understanding of how students learn; the application of these ideas to chemistry education; and the level of chemistry literacy and public understanding of chemistry and science. These matters include challenges about what other countries are doing in the area of chemistry education, and what problems they have and how to solve them.
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Darling-Hammond, L., & McLaughlin, M. (1995). "Policies that support professional development in an era of reform." Phi Delta Kappen, 76(8), 597-604.
Driver, R. & Erickson, G. (1983). "Theories-in-action: Some theoretical and empirical issues in the study of students' conceptual frameworks in science." Studies in Science Education, 10, 37-60.
Driver, R. & Oldham, V. (1986). "A constructivist approach to curriculum development in science," Studies in Science Education, 18, 105-122.
Fang, M., Rao, J., Su, X., & Li, T. (2007). "A web-based collaborative learning system." http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~jinghai/papers/WCLS.pdf
Hewson, P.W. (1984). "Microcomputers, conceptual change and the design of science instruction: Examples from kinetic and dynamics." South African Journal of Science, 80, 15-20.
Loucks-Horsley, S., Hewson, P., Love, N., & Stiles, K. (1998). "Designing professional development for teachers of science mathematics." Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Reid, D. (2007). "This isn't your father's formula for chemistry class; It's better." http://nsm.fullerton.edu/press.asp?article=pwegner
Roth, W. M., & Rouchoudhury, A. (1994). "Physics students' epistemologies and views about knowing and learning." Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31(1), 5-30.
Schuster, D. & Carlsen, W. (2006). "Science teaching as a learning profession." A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of National Association of Research in Science Teaching (San Fransico, CA, April, 2006).
Shulman, L. (1987). "Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of new reform." Harvard Education Review, 57, 1-22.
Stofflett, R. (1998). "Putting
constructivist teaching into practice in undergraduate introductory
science." Electronic Journal of Science Education,
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*Web documents were accessible on the date of receipt.
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CEJ Vol. 9, No. 2, Contents