Open AccessAn Applied Research-Based Approach to Support Chemistry Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Shelley Rap,
Yael Feldman-Maggor,
Ehud Aviran,
Inna Shvarts-Serebro,
Enas Easa,
Ella Yonai,
Ruth Waldman,
Ron Blonder
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of chemical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1938-1328
pISSN - 0021-9584
DOI - 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00687
Subject(s) - covid-19 , pandemic , mathematics education , chemistry education , chemistry , psychology , virology , medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , social psychology , disease , pathology , enthusiasm , outbreak
In this Communication paper we describe how a research-based approach was applied in Israel to support high-school chemistry teachers, who continued to teach using technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the TPACK (technological pedagogical content knowledge) framework for teachers' knowledge in technological environments, we developed a questionnaire for chemistry teachers, with the goal to reveal the difficulties they encountered, their needs, and their means for sharing their knowledge, materials, and teaching strategies for online teaching. On the basis of the analysis of the collected data, we provided a research-based response that focused on the teachers' needs when using technology to teach chemistry. Teachers' needs, in terms of their knowledge, skills, and means of support, which were identified in the research and the activities that were developed in order to address them, are presented. We emphasized the research-based process that was applied to address teachers' needs during the pandemic.