Making Chemistry Relevant: Strategies for Including All Students in a Learner-Sensitive Classroom Environment - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470278986 ISBN 13: 9780470278987

Publisher: Wiley, 2010

Synopsis

Unique new approaches for making chemistry accessible to diverse students

Students' interest and achievement in academics improve dramatically when they make connections between what they are learning and the potential uses of that knowledge in the workplace and/or in the world at large. Making Chemistry Relevant presents a unique collection of strategies that have been used successfully in chemistry classrooms to create a learner-sensitive environment that enhances academic achievement and social competence of students.

Rejecting rote memorization, the book proposes a cognitive constructivist philosophy that casts the teacher as a facilitator helping students to construct solutions to problems. Written by chemistry professors and research groups from a wide variety of colleges and universities, the book offers a number of creative ways to make chemistry relevant to the student, including:

Teaching science in the context of major life issues and STEM professions

Relating chemistry to current events such as global warming, pollution, and terrorism

Integrating science research into the undergraduate laboratory curriculum

Enriching the learning experience for students with a variety of learning styles as well as accommodating the visually challenged students

Using media, hypermedia, games, and puzzles in the teaching of chemistry

Both novice and experienced faculty alike will find valuable ideas ready to be applied and adapted to enhance the learning experience of all their students.

About this title

About the Author

SHARMISTHA BASU-DUTT is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Director of Engineering Studies at the University of West Georgia. She has received numerous grants and awards for her groundbreaking projects that integrate education, engineering, and chemistry.

Review

"Overall, this is not a book that requires reading from cover to cover; rather, it can be ‘dipped into' for inspiration when developing new resources to capture the imagination of our chemistry students." (Education in Chemistry , 1 March 2011)

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0470278986
• ISBN 13: 9780470278987
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Basu-Dutt Sharmistha