Ruth Ben-Zvi

The use of scientific literacy taxonomy for assessing the development of chemical literacy among high-school students

This study investigated the attainment of chemical literacy among 10th-12th grade chemistry students in Israel. Based on existing theoretical frameworks, assessment tools were developed, which measured students’ ability to: a) recognize chemical concepts as such (nominal literacy); b) define some key-concepts (functional literacy); c) use their understanding of chemical concepts to explain phenomena (conceptual literacy); and d) use their knowledge in chemistry to read a short article, or analyze information provided in commercial ads or internet resources (multi-dimensional literacy). It was found that students improve their nominal and functional literacy; however, higher levels of chemical literacy, as defined within these frameworks, are only partly met. The findings can be helpful in the process of designing new curricula, and emphasizing certain instructional strategies in order to foster chemical literacy. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2006, 7 (4), 203-225]

The importance of involving high‐school chemistry teachers in the process of defining the operational meaning of ‘chemical literacy’

The ongoing reform in science education in many countries, including Israel, has attainment of scientific literacy for all as one of its main goals. In this context, it is important to provide teachers with the opportunity to construct meaning for the term science literacy and by doing so to obtain a clear understanding of the new teaching goals. Here we report on a study in which teachers, as part of their professional development, were involved in defining the term ‘chemical literacy’; they discussed the need for it, and suggested educational experiences that are necessary in order to attain it. The programme was conducted as part of a reform in the content, as well as in the pedagogy, of chemistry education in Israel. The collected data provide some insights regarding the process by which the teachers’ perception of ‘chemical literacy’ developed and the way actual school practice influences teachers’ perception of ‘chemical literacy’.

Classroom learning environment and student attitudes towards chemistry

In 1960, Getzels and Thelen presented a framework for the analysis of a school classroom as a unique social system. They suggested that classroom climate is one of the variables which can interact with, as well as predict, both the achievements and attitudes of students. Bloom (1964) also emphasized the importance of the environment in which students learn and proposed that it be used for the prediction of achievement and evaluation of attitudes.

Non-science oriented students and the second law of thermodynamics

The present article describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a module: ‘Energy and the Human Being’, within the framework of a programme aimed at non-science oriented students in senior high schools in Israel. The objectives of this programme are to enable students to gain a broad outlook of scientific concepts and to make science seem relevant, both to each student personally and to society in general. The module tries to clarify some issues concerning abundant feelings about energy. Both children and adults confuse the notion of the quality of energy with that of the amount of energy. Thus they feel that energy is not an entity that is conserved because one has to pay for its use. The programme is built around two main ideas: (1) Energy can be converted from one form to another but each transformation is accompanied by some of it being converted to heat and thus the ability to perform work decreases. (2) Work is performed when a spontaneous process is coupled with a non-spontaneous pr...

Proactive and Retroactive Facilitation of Long-Term Retention by Curriculum Continuity

A longitudinal research study was designed to investigate effects of mutual interrelations between courses in sequential teaching on long-term retention of learning. This paper mainly relates to the following question: Is the retention of previously learned course material facilitated by new content taught in subsequent courses? Students were followed up for 3 consecutive years from junior to senior high school. Two groups were investigated: Both had studied the same introductory physical science course in grade 7, but only one group continued to study related physical science topics in grade 8. Analysis of longitudinally matched data detected significant proactive and retroactive effects of courses: (a) Prior knowledge acquired in grade 7 facilitated further learning in grade 8; and (b) retention of the grade 7 subject matter over a 2-year interval was higher in the group that had studied physical science continuously during grades 7 and 8. These long-lasting effects are not due to mere rehearsal, since the content of the grade 7 course is used but not retaught in subsequent courses. Explanations are provided by Ausubel’s assimilation theory. The main educational implication is that a program composed of a hierarchical sequence of learning units is superior to a discontinuous array of discrete courses.

Student and teacher perceptions of industrial chemistry case studies

This paper describes a study conducted in Israel which focuses on how studying industrial chemistry case studies affects students’ perceptions of their learning environment and interest in chemistry studies. The goal of the study was to determine the effects of industrial case studies on students’ perceptions of chemistry in general, and industrial chemistry in particular. The study has both quantitative and qualitative components. The quantitative component was based on a learning environment inventory specifically developed for this study. The qualitative component was based on open‐ended questionnaires and student interviews. It was observed that industrial chemistry case studies helped in providing students with an applied and relevant picture of chemistry in general, and their chemistry studies, in particular. It was also found that the type of teachers’ training had an effect on students’ attitudes towards industrial chemistry. More specifically, teachers who attended an intensive training workshop ...

The development and implementation of two industrial chemistry case studies for the Israeli high school chemistry curriculum

The development and implementation of two case studies based on local chemical industries for the Israeli high school chemistry curriculum are discussed. The same approach was used to develop both industrial chemistry case studies which may also serve as a guideline for developing case studies based on different chemical industries in other parts of the world. Key concepts of industrial chemistry, as well as their interrelationship to other disciplines are presented throughout the course of the case studies. In order to teach the industrial chemistry topics and its varied interdisciplinary components effectively, it is vital that teachers are trained to deal with all the material. Therefore, this paper also presents two different types of in‐service teacher training: a regular in‐service training course and an intensive in‐service training workshop whose goal is to train teachers to use an interdisciplinary approach effectively when teaching the industrial chemistry case studies. It is suggested that in‐s...

Improving student achievement in the topic of chemical energy by implementing new learning materials and strategies

In order to reduce difficulties and misconceptions in the topic of chemical energy, a new learning package was developed and implemented in Israeli high‐school classes. The implementation was based on a variety of learning activities which optimized students’ involvement in the learning process. Two experimental groups, which differed in the sequence of these learning activities, and a control group participated in the study. The results enabled us to draw conclusions about the advantages of the learning package, and about the effectiveness of the different learning activities according to students’ ability.

Revision of course materials on the basis of research on conceptual difficulties

Recent studies in the area of cognitive research suggest some aspects that are essential to our understanding of the teaching/learning process and thus should be considered in the course of evaluation and curriculum development. These studies point to the need to consider the cognitive structures of the learner as an important ingredient in the acquisition of knowledge. In particular, the conceptions that students bring to the science class, or develop during instruction, play an important role in the process of learning (Driver and Easley, 1978).

Teaching Objectives in Chemistry: a Comparison of Teachers’ and Students’ Priorities

Summaries English An inventory which consisted of 12 objectives of chemistry teaching was constructed from lists compiled from the responses of 12th‐grade students and given to 10th, 11th and 12th graders and to their teachers. All four groups were asked to rank the objectives according to their order of significance. The analysis of the order of rankings gives an insight into what are considered as the most important and interesting aspects of chemistry by students and by teachers. The use of an objectives questionnaire in this manner is recommended to curriculum developers as part of the process of development and implementation of any curriculum. This may help to make the subject matter more suitable for the needs of both students and teachers.