A series of interactive, instructional units have been developed that integrate computational molecular modelling and visualization to teach fundamental chemistry concepts and the relationship between the molecular and macro-scales. The units span the scale from atoms, small molecules to macromolecular systems, and introduce many of the concepts…

This paper describes a study on research-oriented chemistry teacher education, in which fifty-six advanced, secondary school chemistry student teachers working in teams of two interviewed twenty-eight experienced chemistry teachers. The interviews focussed on teachers' personal viewpoints of how to best teach the different levels of…

We report in this paper on a study of chemistry teachers' perceptions of their teaching in upper secondary schools in Sweden, regarding models of acids and bases, especially the Bronsted and the Arrhenius model. A questionnaire consisting of a Likert-type scale was developed, which focused on teachers' knowledge of different models, knowledge of…

Secondary school chemistry teachers' understanding of chemical equilibrium was investigated through interviews using the think-aloud technique. The interviews were conducted with twelve volunteer chemistry teachers in Hong Kong. Their teaching experience ranged from 3 to 18 years. They were asked to predict what would happen to the equilibrium…

The curricula of teacher education need periodic revisions to respond to the evolution of educational objectives. Teachers' beliefs, as well as their characteristics, teaching attitudes and competency in their subject matter play a decisive role in the success of any reform. In this study, a cross-sectional survey was conducted across years 1-5 of…

This paper describes how a frame has been used to articulate the intentions of a pre-service chemistry education course to students of that course. The frame, which draws on appropriate knowledge bases for teachers of science, was also used through the teaching of the course as a diagnostic and development tool to assist the learning of these…

To achieve sufficient pedagogical content knowledge on nature of chemistry related issues, teachers need structured opportunities for reflection and discussion. One way to provide those opportunities is through teacher-scientist interaction. This study is based on reflective essays of thirty prospective teachers who participated in a new course…

This study reports the outcomes of two in-service courses, which targeted the development of chemistry teachers' skills to promote inquiry or reasoning and creative thinking skills among their students. Sixteen chemistry and four biology teachers participated in two intervention studies, both designed according to the philosophy of scientific and…

The aim of this study is to understand the design of professional development programmes in teacher-based and context-based chemistry curriculum innovations. Firstly, the goals of these programmes are discussed and related to the concept of empowerment. Next, in a selection of empirical studies, four general strategies for professional development…

The aim of this study is to develop a framework for professional development programmes that empowers chemistry teachers to teach and design context-based chemistry curricula. Firstly, teachers' involvement, their concerns and their professional development in several context-based curriculum innovations is discussed. Secondly, to develop such a…

An original study about beliefs, conceptions and discourse analyses of organic chemistry teachers is presented. We used Likert questionnaires and discourse analysis to examine conceptions of the nature of science, learning and teaching at university level. A case study of four female teachers with varying experience and teacher training was…

Despite several decades of research into the teaching and learning of Science/Chemistry, at both secondary and tertiary level, it has had relatively little impact on practice. In many countries interest in studying Science at school and university is falling, and there is concern over falling numbers and falling standards. There is a changing…

This semi-longitudinal investigation identified the chemistry topics that the majority of Irish chemistry pupils/students find difficult, from Junior Certificate level (age 15/16 years) right the way through to University level (age 18+). Pupils/students completed a five point, Likert-type questionnaire listing the topics covered in the different…

The purpose of this study was to find out how the scientific literacy themes are represented in the current Zambian high school chemistry syllabus, textbooks and grade twelve chemistry examination papers in an attempt to find out whether or not the chemistry course has adequate potential to contribute to the preparation of scientifically literate…

This paper examines the role of prior knowledge in first year performance of undergraduate chemistry, considering specifically the context of general student aptitude. Statistical testing shows that there were significant differences between the mean scores of students who have and those who have not prior knowledge of chemistry in semester tests…