TEACHING RESOURCES TEST INFORMATION
NAME AND SURNAME
Korfios Vangelis
AFFILIATION
Zanneio Model Experimental Lower Secondary School - 3rd Lykeio of Korydallos
ROLE IN THE PROJECT
Teacher involved
TITLE OF TEACHING RESOURCE
The Wonderful World of Chemistry
Topics related to the resource
Solutions, mixtures, atoms, molecules, chemical reactions, acids, bases, carbon, organic compounds
Examples of learning objectives
Understanding of chemistry concepts via images, practical examples and videos of experiments.
Participation of students in virtual laboratory activities (promotes cooperative learning)
Expansion of knowledge on chemistry applications in different fields
Information about the class
The teaching resource is designed (and was applied) for students of the 2nd and 3rd grades of Lower Secondary School (13-15 years old). It was applied to classes consisting of 23-30 students.
Suggestion for use
The teaching resource was used as a supplementary teaching tool. More emphasis was given on the sections related with mixtures, solutions, chemical reactions and the particulate nature of matter (atoms, molecules).
The most used elements of the resource were the videos, the virtual laboratory exercises and the interactive evaluation quizzes in the end of every teaching module.
Insights into student
use / thinking
Students showed intense interest during watching the videos. They asked several questions which triggered further discussion and offered the opportunity for knowledge expansion. Students also participated with a lot of enthusiasm in the multiple choice quizzes and often entered into argumentative discussions with their classmates. In general, students seemed very satisfied from their involvement with this ICT-based teaching resource.
Teacher’s conclusions
This is a very high quality piece of software which can be used as a supporting teaching tool in a straightforward manner. It is useful especially if there is limited time or infrastructure for practical lab activities or in the case of experiments that can be too dangerous for students to do.
Disadvantages: Some students treated the resource as “something odd” which was not a real class in which they had to learn something. They found an excuse for not keeping attention and make noise. In order to avoid these phenomena, it would be preferable to accompany the use of the software with a relevant worksheet. In addition, for the effective use of the virtual laboratory, the computer lab equipped with several terminals (at least one for every two students) should be available.
