Mehltretter Drury Sara A, Knobloch Katherine R, Conners Pamela, Nienow Amanda, Anderson Chris, Aghababian Sidra, Imholte Jessica, Wysocki Laura M
Department of Rhetoric, Wabash College, 301 W. Wabash Ave., Crawfordsville, Indiana 47933, United States.
Department of Communication Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
J Chem Educ. 2024 Jul 11;101(8):3564-3569. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00273. eCollection 2024 Aug 13.
Placing chemistry in the context of complex societal issues is one way to help students see the application of fundamental ideas in the general chemistry curriculum. Here, we describe the impact of an in-class deliberation on environmental contaminants, which encourages students to consider different perspectives when addressing the issue of water and soil quality in communities. Student surveys were used to analyze the quality of the deliberation and several key factors regarding student attitudes before and after the activity. Students report a high-quality experience during the deliberation, wherein new ideas were introduced and they carefully considered different views on the issue at hand. Not only do students gain scientific knowledge about lead contamination, they also demonstrate statistically significant gains in their attitudes toward chemistry and their motivation to take action. As a complement to traditional teaching methods, this deliberation module can address key learning outcomes in systems thinking and the impact chemistry has on society.
将化学置于复杂的社会问题背景下，是帮助学生理解基础化学课程中基本概念应用的一种方式。在此，我们描述了一场关于环境污染物的课堂讨论的影响，该讨论鼓励学生在探讨社区水和土壤质量问题时考虑不同观点。通过学生调查来分析讨论的质量以及活动前后与学生态度相关的几个关键因素。学生们报告称在讨论过程中体验良好，期间引入了新观点，他们仔细考虑了关于手头问题的不同看法。学生不仅获得了有关铅污染的科学知识，而且在对化学的态度以及采取行动的积极性方面也有统计学上的显著提升。作为传统教学方法的补充，这个讨论模块可以实现系统思维方面的关键学习成果以及化学对社会的影响。
