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ERIC Number: EJ1040203
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Sep
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Professional Development Aligned with AP Chemistry Curriculum: Promoting Science Practices and Facilitating Enduring Conceptual Understanding
Herrington, Deborah G.; Yezierski, Ellen J.
Journal of Chemical Education, v91 n9 p1368-1374 Sep 2014
The recent revisions to the advanced placement (AP) chemistry curriculum promote deep conceptual understanding of chemistry content over more rote memorization of facts and algorithmic problem solving. For many teachers, this will mean moving away from traditional worksheets and verification lab activities that they have used to address the vast amounts of content in the AP chemistry course. Moreover, a substantial shift in teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning of chemistry will be needed to facilitate the transformation of their instructional practices. Research has shown that such substantial shifts in beliefs and practices also requires a shift in professional development (PD) models, away from the traditional one-day to one-week workshops and toward PD that is sustained, coherent, content- and inquiry-focused, and supported. This paper uses the Target Inquiry (TI) program as an example of this latter type of PD to highlight important considerations in developing PD experiences that will support teachers in making the instructional changes called for by the revised AP curriculum. Additionally, this paper introduces AP chemistry teachers to a set of inquiry-based chemistry activities designed and tested by teachers who have completed the TI program. A key feature of these activities is the effective blending of both chemistry content and science practices. TI teacher-developed activities, as well as teacher interviews, indicate an inclusion of more particulate-level modeling and a focus on student conceptual understanding that is strongly aligned with the revised AP curriculum.
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A