There’s Real Strength in the Points They Made: Responding to Students’ Learning Preferences in Chemistry

• In Event: Roundtable Session 52
  In Roundtable Session: Improving Science Education Through Self-Study

Abstract

This paper reports on senior chemistry students’ responsiveness to a new chemistry curriculum introduction advocating a tetrahedral orientation (Mahaffy, 2006) to the teaching of chemistry. In this instrumental case study, we identify the intentions of this learner-centered curriculum and a teacher’s pedagogical intensions in response to this curriculum. We also explore the tensions this teacher experiences as students subsequently respond to his teaching. Using the authority of his students’ voice, we identify these tensions and ensuing discussion that contribute to his transformational learning, and, in turn, his modified practice as a teacher. Implications of this study in regards to the authority of students’ voice in triggering teachers’ pedagogical response are considered.

Authors

• Rick Wiebe, University of Manitoba

• Brian Ellis Lewthwaite, James Cook University - Australia