Epistemic relevance and learning chemistry

One of my publications is

Taber, K. S. (2015). Epistemic relevance and learning chemistry in an academic context. In I. Eilks & A. Hofstein (Eds.), Relevant Chemistry Education: From Theory to Practice (pp. 79-100). Sense Publishers.

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Abstract

It is often claimed that presenting chemical ideas in the context of learning about topics such as fuels, food production, or clothing and fabrics makes the subject more relevant to our learners. This chapter looks to make the case for a completely different kind of relevance: that students should learn conceptual and theoretical content in the context of appreciating the chemical questions that motivated it. Chemical ideas – constructs, theories, models, and so forth – are intellectual solutions that have been motivated by the challenge of developing satisfactory scientific explanations for chemical phenomena. It is the phenomena that provide the epistemic relevance for teaching the ideas. Context-based approaches may seem less abstract to students who struggle with the theoretical content of 'traditional' courses, yet these approaches may not always offer sufficient intellectual challenge to learners with the greatest potential in the subject. Moreover, a core aim of education is to support the development of the whole person, including their intellectual development. Chemistry as an academic subject, by its very nature, provides considerable opportunity to support learners in developing the kind of sophisticated thinking considered to represent intellectual maturity. For many learners, then, the very things that make chemistry a challenging subject (the abstract nature of its concepts and its dense theoretical content) offer particular relevance in the context of wider educational aims.

Figure 1. Shifts in focus on course design.
Figure 2. Applications introduced to reinforce teaching of chemical concepts.

Figure 3. Applications introduced to motivate the learning of chemical concepts.
Figure 4. Different forms of relevance.
Figure 5. Epistemic relevance for introducing chemical concepts.
Contents
  • PREAMBLE: THE CHALLENGE OF ACADEMIC CHEMISTRY
  • THE NOTION(S) OF RELEVANCE
    • Chemistry as a curriculum subject
    • Changing priorities for structuring chemistry teaching
  • RELEVANCE IN TERMS OF STUDENT INTERESTS
    • Re-ordering the presentation of concepts and applications
  • CHANGING PRIORITIES IN TEACHING CHEMISTRY
    • Risking losing the baby: relevance as a contended notion
  • THE NEEDS OF THE FEW?
    • The needs of the gifted learners
    • The challenge of developing post-formal thinking for all students
  • THE DEVELOPMENTAL RELEVANCE OF THEORETICAL CHEMISTRY: COGNITIVE ACCELERATION THROUGH CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
  • CONCLUSIONS

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