Printable Version 

2004 NSF K-12 Math, Science, and Technology Curriculum Developers Conference

CHEMDISCOVERY

Dr. Alex S. Ushakov

Components. ChemDiscovery is presented in a new educational format a computerized, open-learning environment on a Web-scaffolded CD-ROM with accompanying student and teacher materials such as Student's CD with students' guide, Laboratory Manual (Inquiry-based experiments), and Teacher's materials with two teacher's CDs.

Organization. ChemDiscovery is organized into a series of eight projects called Quests. Each Quest has overlapping content and context that offers the opportunity to learn chemistry content directly and/or through the motivational context. The concepts and principles of chemistry build upon one another in an easy-to-understand, logical fashion. Because all important chemistry concepts are hyperlinked to one another in several ways, teachers and students can either construct their own sequence of topics or use the recommended paths through the ChemDiscovery learning environment.

Flexibility. ChemDiscovery has high level of flexibility due to comprehensive representations of each chemistry concept via several learning styles. The curriculum can accommodate the needs of students with different abilities, interests, and levels of preparation. It can also be adapted to different teaching styles.

Pedagogical Approach. ChemDiscovery introduces a highly effective "Understanding via Design" approach to teaching chemistry. The approach engages students in active learning for deep understanding of the chemistry content via computer-based design of a virtual world from a chemistry perspective. Students design chemical structures such as atoms; and large, complex systems such as compounds, chemical reactions, and objects found in everyday life. The term "design" has several meanings here: (a) building collaborative and individual learning strategies; (b) constructing mental models of chemistry concepts, (c) developing problem-solving tasks; and (d) virtual computer-based design of visualizations of chemical objects and phenomena.

Instructional Design. In each Quest the design process begins with an overview that utilizes a series of questions (what, why, and how) to help students clarify their learning goals and to assist with planning learning strategies. Together with their teacher students can choose one of two motivational paths to enter the world of chemistry: (1) Design of the Universe (exploring the origin and structure of the Universe), (2) Living in the Universe (exploring the environmental impact of chemistry), or (3) access the chemistry content directly (Resources and Activities).

They are:

Resources - an encyclopedia of chemical knowledge.

Activities - the central instructional part of the curriculum. Both activities and resources are organized into two levels of difficulty: Basic Quests (standards-based content) and Questing Further (advanced content). ChemDiscovery activities are indexed on the menu pages, which serve as learning organizers for each quest.

Learning Tools are:

Design Studios - simulators for designing the Periodic Table, nuclei, atoms, ions, substances, reactions, nuclear or water purification plants, and other objects;

Databases of the chemical and physical properties of substances; they are instruments for investigating trends and solving problems;

Chemistry Laboratories - hand-on and virtual experiments that provide a tool for learning chemistry and for developing science inquiry skills;

Computational Laboratory - an environment that allows students to use additional encyclopedic resources, calculation maps, examples, and spreadsheets to design their own mathematical algorithms for understanding, solving, and designing chemistry computational problems;

Virtual trips - through on-line information and videos provide a means for linking chemistry concepts and principles with ecological and everyday life problems;

Index - contains all the important concepts and principles in alphabetical order, hyperlinked with corresponding activities and resources.

Assessment. ChemDiscovery assessments contain: Traditional multiple-choice questions; Problem-solving tasks, Computational problems, Design studio problems; Laboratory practical examinations; and Database investigation assignments. Standards Alignment

Standards. ChemDiscovery is designed to address the Science Teaching, Content, and Assessment Standards in the National Science Education Standards (NSES).

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. ESI-0352345). Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.