Research-based development of pre-service teachers’ competencies for the implementation of the context-based approach in organic chemistry teaching

Research has shown that students across the world consider the organic chemistry curriculum to be abstract and difficult to understand (Jimoh, 2005; O’Dwyer and Childs, 2014). Context-based teaching approach represents an effective tool for promoting conceptual understanding and functionalization of organic chemistry knowledge (Schwartz-Bloom et al., 2011; Putica and Trivic, 2016), which is why it is important to develop pre-service chemistry teachers’ competencies for its implementation in organic chemistry teaching. In accordance with this aim, four preservice teachers at the Faculty of Chemistry, the University of Belgrade, developed their context-based organic chemistry teaching competencies by means of experimental research. Each pre-service teacher conducted an experiment that compared the effectiveness of the context-based and the traditional teaching approach when it comes to promoting conceptual understanding and functionalization of the selected organic chemistry content. Three of these experiments were conducted in grammar schools, two within the elaboration of the teaching topic Carboxylic acids and their derivatives, and the third one within the elaboration of the teaching topic Alcohols. The fourth experiment was conducted in an elementary school, within the elaboration of the teaching unit Alkanes. Within each of these experiments, the pre-service teachers developed context-based teaching materials for the students in the experimental group, the pre-test and the post-test. Unlike the pre-test which consisted of items that resembled regular textbook items, the post-test, which was used as an instrument for comparing the effectiveness of the two teaching approaches, consisted of items that required deep understanding and the application of the newly acquired organic chemistry knowledge in solving real-life problems. The results of all four experiments confirmed that the context-based teaching approach was more effective than the traditional approach in promoting students’ conceptual understanding and functionalization of their knowledge. These findings also confirm that the research-based approach represents an effective tool for developing the pre-service chemistry teachers’ competencies for the implementation of the context-based approach in organic chemistry teaching. References: Jimoh, A. J., (2005), Perception of difficult topics in chemistry curriculum by students in Nigeria secondary schools, Ilorin Journal of Education, 24, 71–78. O’Dwyer, A. and Childs, P., (2014), Organic Chemistry an Action! Developing an intervention program for Introductory Organic Chemistry to improve learner’s Understanding, Interest and Attitudes, Journal of Chemical Education, 91, 987–993. Putica, K. and Trivic, D. D., (2016), Cognitive apprenticeship as a vehicle for enhancing the understanding and functionalization of organic chemistry knowledge, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 17, 172–196. Schwartz-Bloom, R. D., Halpin, M. J. and Reiter, J. P., (2011), Teaching High School Chemistry in the Context of Pharmacology Helps Both Teachers and Students Learn, Journal of Chemical Education, 88, 744–750