Worldwide, the essence of the current reform in science education is a paradigm
shift from algorithmic, lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS) teaching to higher-order
cognitive skills (HOCS) learning. In the context of education in environmental
chemistry (EEC), the ultimate goal is to educate students to be science–technology–environment–society
(STES)-literate, capable of evaluative thinking, decision making, problem solving
and taking responsible action accordingly. Educators need to translate this
goal into effective courses that can be implemented: this includes developing
teaching strategies and assessment methodologies that are consonant with the
goal of HOCS learning. An international workshop—"Environmental Chemistry
Education in Europe: Setting the Agenda"—yielded two main recommendations
for those undertaking educational reform in science education, particularly
to promote meaningful EEC. The first recommendation concerns integration of
environmental sciences into core chemistry courses as well as the development
and implementation of HOCS-promoting teaching strategies and assessment methodologies
in chemical education. The second emphasizes the development of students' HOCS
for transfer, followed by performance assessment of HOCS. This requires changing
the way environmental chemistry is typically taught, moving from a narrowly
focused approach (applied analytical, ecotoxicological, or environmental engineering
chemistry) to an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach.
More Information
Citation
Zoller, Uri. J. Chem. Educ.2005 82 1237.
Keywords
Conferences; Environmental Chemistry; Interdisciplinary / Multidisciplinary; Problem Solving / Decision Making
Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.