Strategies for improving teaching and student success in secondary and post-secondary chemistry classrooms is widely researched nationally and internationally. The development of high quality instruction is key to retaining students in STEM fields, as well as, developing standards for deeper learning and application of course content. The latter is particularly important given the central nature of chemistry to STEM fields which is reflected by the number of majors that require a minimal exposure to chemistry theory and practice. The idea of gathering international perspectives emerged from our participation in the ACS Chemical Education international committee and from hosting ACS symposia focusing upon international relations and research. To broaden perspectives of chemical education through an international lens, researchers in Australia, Turkey, Romania, Costa Rica, Singapore, the Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia, and Canada contributed chapters with a focus upon topics ranging from assessment, safety, pedagogy, metacognition, to outreach. In addition to symposium presenters, other contributors were invited based upon their knowledge of chemical education theory and practice.

This book brings together fifteen contributions from presenters at the 25th IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education 2018, held in Sydney. Written by a highly diverse group of chemistry educators working within different national and institutional contexts with the common goal of improving student learning, the book presents research in multiple facets of the cutting edge of chemistry education, offering insights into the application of learning theories in chemistry combined with practical experience in implementing teaching strategies. The chapters are arranged according to the themes novel pedagogies, dynamic teaching environments, new approaches in assessment and professional skills – each of which is of substantial current interest to the science education communities. Providing an overview of contemporary practice, this book helps improve student learning outcomes. Many of the teaching strategies presented are transferable to other disciplines and are of great interest to the global community of tertiary chemistry educators as well as readers in the areas of secondary STEM education and other disciplines.

This book is aimed at chemistry teachers, teacher educators, chemistry education researchers, and all those who are interested in increasing the relevance of chemistry teaching and learning as well as students' perception of it. The book consists of 20 chapters. Each chapter focuses on a certain issue related to the relevance of chemistry education. These chapters are based on a recently suggested model of the relevance of science education, encompassing individual, societal, and vocational relevance, its present and future implications, as well as its intrinsic and extrinsic aspects. “Two highly distinguished chemical educators, Ingo Eilks and AviHofstein, have brought together 40 internationally renowned colleagues from 16 countries to offer an authoritative view of chemistry teaching today. Between them, the authors, in 20 chapters, give an exceptional description of the current state of chemical education and signpost the future in both research and in the classroom. There is special emphasis on the many attempts to enthuse students with an understanding of the central science, chemistry, which will be helped by having an appreciation of the role of the science in today’s world. Themes which transcend all education such as collaborative work, communication skills, attitudes, inquiry learning and teaching, and problem solving are covered in detail and used in the context of teaching modern chemistry. The book is divided into four parts which describe the individual, the societal, the vocational and economic, and the non-formal dimensions and the editors bring all the disparate leads into a coherent narrative, that will be highly satisfying to experienced and new researchers and to teachers with the daunting task of teaching such an intellectually demanding subject. Just a brief glance at the index and the references will convince anyone interested in chemical education that this book is well worth studying; it is scholarly and readable and has tackled the most important issues in chemical education today and in the foreseeable future.” – Professor David Waddington, Emeritus Professor in Chemistry Education, University of York, United Kingdom

Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2017 Award This comprehensive collection of top-level contributions provides a thorough review of the vibrant field of chemistry education. Highly-experienced chemistry professors and education experts cover the latest developments in chemistry learning and teaching, as well as the pivotal role of chemistry for shaping a more sustainable future. Adopting a practice-oriented approach, the current challenges and opportunities posed by chemistry education are critically discussed, highlighting the pitfalls that can occur in teaching chemistry and how to circumvent them. The main topics discussed include best practices, project-based education, blended learning and the role of technology, including e-learning, and science visualization. Hands-on recommendations on how to optimally implement innovative strategies of teaching chemistry at university and high-school levels make this book an essential resource for anybody interested in either teaching or learning chemistry more effectively, from experience chemistry professors to secondary school teachers, from educators with no formal training in didactics to frustrated chemistry students.

Chemical education is essential to everybody because it deals with ideas that play major roles in personal, social, and economic decisions. This book is based on three principles: that all aspects of chemical education should be associated with research; that the development of opportunities for chemical education should be both a continuous process and be linked to research; and that the professional development of all those associated with chemical education should make extensive and diverse use of that research. It is intended for: pre-service and practising chemistry teachers and lecturers; chemistry teacher educators; chemical education researchers; the designers and managers of formal chemical curricula; informal chemical educators; authors of textbooks and curriculum support materials; practising chemists and chemical technologists. It addresses: the relation between chemistry and chemical education; curricula for chemical education; teaching and learning about chemical compounds and chemical change; the development of teachers; the development of chemical education as a field of enquiry. This is mainly done in respect of the full range of formal education contexts (schools, universities, vocational colleges) but also in respect of informal education contexts (books, science centres and museums).

Many studies have highlighted the importance of discourse in scientific understanding. Argumentation is a form of scientific discourse that plays a central role in the building of explanations, models and theories. Scientists use arguments to relate the evidence that they select from their investigations and to justify the claims that they make about their observations. The implication is that argumentation is a scientific habit of mind that needs to be appropriated by students and explicitly taught through suitable instruction. Edited by Sibel Erduran, an internationally recognised expert in chemistry education, this book brings together leading researchers to draw attention to research, policy and practice around the inclusion of argumentation in chemistry education. Split into three sections: Research on Argumentation in Chemistry Education, Resources and Strategies on Argumentation in Chemistry Education, and Argumentation in Context, this book blends practical resources and strategies with research-based evidence. The book contains state of the art research and offers educators a balanced perspective on the theory and practice of argumentation in chemistry education.

Interest in knowledge integration grew considerably in recent years, particularly within the realm of pre-service teacher education. However, studies on the topic conceptualize knowledge integration in diverse ways. For example, it may be conceived as a specific coherence-building learning process which involves not only acquiring but interrelating knowledge of different types (e.g., theoretical and practical) or from different domains, which together constitute a teacher’s or educational specialist’s professional knowledge base (e.g., content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge about using technologies for learning and instruction, etc.). Furthermore, knowledge integration also refers to the meaningful application of knowledge of different types and from various domains in order to act professionally and to teach successfully. In many countries, however, future teachers and educational specialists often struggle with knowledge integration, because the task of integrating knowledge across domains, from various courses, and from practical training is left largely to the individuals. Thus, the efficacy and quality of higher education programs, particularly in pre-service teacher education, could be improved through careful attention to knowledge integration. International Perspectives on Knowledge Integration aims at facilitating the consideration of knowledge integration in teacher training and higher education in both research and practice. Specifically, it explores theoretical conceptions and methods, and reports on original research and good practices for fostering knowledge integration. It is thus of interest to researchers, faculty board members, and lecturers concerned with teacher training and higher education, as well as to student-teachers and students of pedagogy, education, and educational psychology.

This book focuses on developing and updating prospective and practicing chemistry teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. The 11 chapters of the book discuss the most essential theories from general and science education, and in the second part of each of the chapters apply the theory to examples from the chemistry classroom. Key sentences, tasks for self-assessment, and suggestions for further reading are also included. The book is focused on many different issues a teacher of chemistry is concerned with. The chapters provide contemporary discussions of the chemistry curriculum, objectives and assessment, motivation, learning difficulties, linguistic issues, practical work, student active pedagogies, ICT, informal learning, continuous professional development, and teaching chemistry in developing environments. This book, with contributions from many of the world’s top experts in chemistry education, is a major publication offering something that has not previously been available. Within this single volume, chemistry teachers, teacher educators, and prospective teachers will find information and advice relating to key issues in teaching (such as the curriculum, assessment and so forth), but contextualised in terms of the specifics of teaching and learning of chemistry, and drawing upon the extensive research in the field. Moreover, the book is written in a scholarly style with extensive citations to the literature, thus providing an excellent starting point for teachers and research students undertaking scholarly studies in chemistry education; whilst, at the same time, offering insight and practical advice to support the planning of effective chemistry teaching. This book should be considered essential reading for those preparing for chemistry teaching, and will be an important addition to the libraries of all concerned with chemical education. Dr Keith S. Taber (University of Cambridge; Editor: Chemistry Education Research and Practice) The highly regarded collection of authors in this book fills a critical void by providing an essential resource for teachers of chemistry to enhance pedagogical content knowledge for teaching modern chemistry. Through clever orchestration of examples and theory, and with carefully framed guiding questions, the book equips teachers to act on the relevance of essential chemistry knowledge to navigate such challenges as context, motivation to learn, thinking, activity, language, assessment, and maintaining professional expertise. If you are a secondary or post-secondary teacher of chemistry, this book will quickly become a favorite well-thumbed resource! Professor Hannah Sevian (University of Massachusetts Boston)

This book synthesizes theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence and practical strategies for improving teacher education in chemistry. Many chemistry lessons involve mindless “cookbook” activities where students and teachers follow recipes, memorise formulae and recall facts without understanding how and why knowledge in chemistry works. Capitalising on traditionally disparate areas of research, the book investigates how to make chemistry education more meaningful for both students and teachers. It provides an example of how theory and practice in chemistry education can be bridged. It reflects on the nature of knowledge in chemistry by referring to theoretical perspectives from philosophy of chemistry. It draws on empirical evidence from research on teacher education, and illustrates concrete strategies and resources that can be used by teacher educators. The book describes the design and implementation of an innovative teacher education project to show the impact of an intervention on pre-service teachers. The book shows how, by making use of visual representations and analogies, the project makes some fairly abstract and complex ideas accessible to pre-service teachers.

As teachers we often tend to expect other countries to teach chemistry in much the same way as we do, but educational systems differ widely. At Bielefeld University we started a project to analyse the approach to chemical education in different countries from all over the world: Teaching Chemistry around the World. 25 countries have participated in the project. The resulting country studies are presented in this book. This book may be seen as a contribution to make the structure of chemistry teaching in numerous countries more transparent and to facilitate communication between these countries. Especially in the case of the school subject chemistry, which is very unpopular on the one hand and occupies an exceptional position on the other hand – due to its relevance to jobs and everyday life and most notably due to its importance for innovation capacity and problem solving – we have to learn from each others’ educational systems.