Inquiry-Based Chemistry Curriculum for Pre-service Education Students

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 13 Issue 4 (2008) pp 120-124

Inquiry-Based Chemistry Curriculum for Pre-service Education Students

Pat Meyer, Hang Hwa Hong, and Herb Fynewever*

The Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5410; herb.fynewever@wmich.edu
Received January 19, 2007. Accepted October 3, 2007.

Published online: 1 April 2008

Abstract. Pre-service teachers’ reception of a course taught using inquiry pedagogy is measured using third party observations and student surveys. To facilitate a comparison, students are exposed to a probe lesson using contrasting direct instruction pedagogy and are asked to reflect on the perceived pros and cons of each method relative to each other. The necessity of using inquiry when teaching pre-service teachers is discussed in light of the National Science Education Standards.

Key Words: Of Special Interest; general chemistry; pre-service teachers; thermodynamics; heat capacity; phases; phase transitions; diagrams; Inquiry-based; discovery learning; measuring enthalphy of phase change

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: herb.fynewever@wmich.edu)

Article in PDF format (79 KB) HTML format

Supporting Materials:

The lesson materials and surveys are available in the supporting materials (294 KB).