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PUBLICATION INFORMATION

TITLE OF PUBLICATION

SPECIFIKA VZDěLáVáNí V CHEMII NA STřEDNíCH ODBORNýCH šKOLáCH NECHEMICKéHO ZAMěřENí (SPECIFICS OF CHEMISTRY LESSONS AT NON-CHEMICAL SECONDARY VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS)

NAME OF AUTHOR(S)

Martin Rusek, Pavel Beneš, Martin Adamec

NAME OF PUBLISHER

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education

YEAR OF PUBLICATION

N/A

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION

Czech

PUBLICATION TYPOLOGY

Research

TARGET GROUP OF PUBLICATION

School Directors, Teachers

SIZE OF THE PUBLICATION

3 – 10 pages

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS

The article is a study focused on teaching chemistry at secondary vocational schools (SVS) with non-chemical specialization in Czech Republic with special focus on school experiment and new facilities available.
At secondary schools a lot significantly changed due to reforms. The authors therefore present the results of several analyzes and probes that were done in order to obtain a more accurate idea of the educational reality at these schools.
Current situation: the previously existing educational standards were replaced by Framework Educational Programs (FEP) - different for general and for vocational education (FEP VE). One of the news in FEP VE is the inclusion of the science education (including chemistry) in all these FEP. Mostly 4 teaching hours per week are devoted to science subjects and only in the first grade. Only 1-2 teaching hours per week are devoted to the subjects of chemical nature, in which teachers must cover all curriculum prescribed in FEP VE (Rusek, 2009c). Another important feature of SVS is the success of students of a particular school. The survey carried out on all secondary schools of the Central Region CR (Rusek, Havlová, Pumpr, 2010) found that SVS students achieved weaker results than students of gymnasiums.
The quality of teaching is also connected with education of teachers. According to the survey´s results, in 55% of apprenticeships ending with graduation (school leaving exam) chemistry is taught by a teacher who has studied chemistry teaching and in 15% of them by a teacher who hasn´t studied chemistry teaching. In 30% of the apprenticeships ending with apprenticeship exam (lower graduation) chemistry is taught by a teacher who has studied chemistry teaching and in up to 60% of them by a teacher who hasn´t studied chemistry.
Among other difficulties of teaching the chemical nature subjects at SVS include poor school facilities (labs are available only at approximately 26% of SVS, storages of chemicals at about 40% of schools, etc. (Rusek, 2010a)).
To make teaching chemistry effective in secondary schools in these conditions, motivating means are considered, one of them the school experiment. Using of an experiment itself is an effort to reduce abstraction, which is characteristic for the subject matter of chemistry.
Visualization is one of the possible ways how to make it easier for students to work with abstract concepts. The experiment, however, is (according to the research) used at SVS rarely, and there is therefore need to provide methodical support to the teachers and motivate them for including complex experiments (not only experiments without previous and consequent steps) into chemistry lessons.
There are two possible motivation means for chemistry teachers introduced in the article:
1. Recently created portable labs (www.lach-ner.com) including not only chemical dishes and related chemicals, but also a methodological manual (Benes, Pumr, 2010) following which the teacher can choose an experiment appropriate to a topic of the lesson. The advantage of this kit is both its compactness and price (up to 10.000 CZK).
2. Where the portable lab is not available, the teacher can use a virtual experiment. This kind of experiment comes out always the teacher has the opportunity to repeat, slow down or emphasize particular part of the experiment – these are advantages of virtual experiments, though the efficiency of its use hasn´t been confirmed yet.
The authors of the article will continue with their work concerning school experiments and creating other motivating means of education.

REVIEWER’S COMMENTS ON THE PUBLICATION

The article was selected because it is a short but useful study focused on teaching chemistry at secondary vocational schools (SVS) with non-chemical specialization in Czech Republic with special focus on school experiment and new facilities available for chemistry teachers at these schools.
The article describes difficulties that chemistry teachers at secondary vocational schools face, current situation of educational system, grade of education achieved and specialization of teachers that currently teach chemistry at SVS. Authors of the article introduce two motivating means that can teachers use in chemistry lessons at SVS.
The means of motivation described in the article are relatively new and can motivate not only pupils but also teachers. Teachers of chemistry at SVS often need not only facilities – due to lack of them at more than a half of SVS, but also methodological support and inspiration. Both portable labs and virtual experiments can offer the support needed. Both these means are motivating not only for the teachers but also for pupils, which is also very important for efficiency of lessons.
The article is not too long and offers enough information, links, inspiration. I consider it useful for teachers as a starting or inspiring source of information and sources, where they can find further information. Therefore I think it fits well to the topic of the second part of CIAA Network project.

WHERE TO FIND IT

http://userweb.pedf.cuni.cz/wp/kch/files/2010/10/Specifika-vzd%C4%9Bl%C3%A1v%C3%A1n%C3%AD-v-chemii-na-SO%C5%A01.pdf

PDF OF THE PUBLICATION

29_Rusek_Specifika-vzdělávání-v-chemii-na-SOŠ1.pdf

NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION

Institute of Chemical Technology Prague

Comments about this Publication

Your comments are welcome

Date: 2013.06.05

Posted by Milan Veselský (Slovakia)

Message: The paper present research on chemistry education in secondary vocational schools in the Czech Republic, which are not specialized in chemistry science, as well as the changes due to the reforms performed within them. This situation and reasearch is very similar to the situation in Slovakia becauase we were the same republic with same education system in secondary vocational schools. In this paper is present two versions of this specific education.The first version is using a portable lab in the classroom. Actually the lab is a set of chemical lab equipment and respective chemicals. This set is complemented by a manual covering a variety experiments. Therefore the teacher can choose an experiment according to the respective topic under discussion.The second version is using a virtual experiment when a direct experiment cannot be done. Its strengths are as follows: the experiment can be always successfully completed, it can be performed slowly or a specific effect can be marked, and so on.Teachers on this vocational secondary schools need more support in order to apply interactive methods for raising the interest of their students in chemistry. A solution is the development of a set of motivation elements and pedagogical and psychological approaches, which can result in higher students motivation , use of ICT as a tool for updating and modernizing the curriculum, or school experiments which teachers can choose according to their experience, the educational objectives set and the specific nature of teaching. The article is only an introduction to the topic and apparently aims to ask a question and outline possible solutions. It is relevant and related to the topic of the project.

Date: 2013.05.30

Posted by Radka Krasteva (Bulgaria)

Message: The paper considers research on chemistry education in secondary vocational schools in the Czech Republic, which are not specialized in chemistry science, as well as the changes due to the reforms performed within them. It focuses on including the school experiment in chemistry teaching as a tool for motivating students and encouraging learning. The authors present two versions.
The first version is using a portable lab in the classroom. Actually the lab is a set of chemical lab equipment and respective chemicals. This set is complemented by a manual covering a variety experiments. Therefore the teacher can choose an experiment according to the respective topic under discussion. The advantages of this set are: compactness, portability, and reasonable price.
The second version is using a virtual experiment when a direct experiment cannot be done. Its strengths are as follows: the experiment can be always successfully completed, it can be performed slowly or a specific effect can be marked, and so on.
However, secondary school teachers need more support in order to apply interactive methods for raising the interest of their students in chemistry. A solution could be the development of a set of motivation elements and pedagogical and psychological approaches, which can result in higher students\' motivation by means of educational activities, use of ICT as a tool for updating and modernizing the curriculum, or school experiments which teachers can choose according to their experience, the educational objectives set and the specific nature of teaching/learning. A special emphasis is placed on the inclusion of short experiments in the teaching process, supported by portable labs, methodological guidelines, as well as by teacher training in order to improve the skills of teachers in relation to planning and implementation of lab activities.

Date: 2013.05.15

Posted by Sarah Becchara, učitelka chemie pro sš, pracuje na všcht (Czech Republic)

Message: The authors aim to highlight the different specifics of teaching at secondary schools and the need to put more experiment in teaching on such schools. Furthermore they bring attention to the fact that the specializations of secondary school which are terminated by apprenticeship exam are taught by teachers who have not studied chemistry themselves in up to 60 % of all cases, and therefore it is advisable to provide them with methodological assistance. The article is only an introduction to the topic and apparently aims to ask a question and outline possible solutions. It is relevant and related to the topic of the project.

National Reports on successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry The national reports on chemistry successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry are now available on the related section of the project portal. The reports presents examples of successful experiences in the partner countries and the results of testing of ICT resources with science teachers.