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What college chemistry instructors and high school chemistry teachers perceive as important for incoming college students
Author(s) -
Razali Sulaiman N.,
Yager Robert E.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660310706
Subject(s) - chemistry , mathematics education , psychology , chemistry education , science education , association (psychology) , medical education , medicine , social psychology , enthusiasm , psychotherapist
Professors of college chemistry were asked to rank various examples of traditional chemistry knowledge and skills as to their importance for incoming students to possess. A pilot study revealed that the items—all selected from one edition of the American Chemical Society‐National Science Teachers Association (ACS‐NSTA) Chemistry Achievement Examination—represented attributes viewed as relatively unimportant. The professors then identified 29 personal traits they considered more important for incoming students to possess. Subsequently, these items, knowledge, skill, and personal attributes, were included in a three‐part assessment instrument. The instrument was administered to 69 college chemistry professors selected at random and to 37 high school chemistry teachers. The results reveal that the college professors universally identified student personal attributes as significantly more important for incoming students to possess over specific knowledge and skills included in the ACS‐NSTA Achievement Examination. Chemistry professors do not find items commonly used to assess success in high school chemistry as important attributes for incoming students to possess. Conversely, high school chemistry teachers regard the knowledge and skill items to be more important for college preparation than personal attributes.