Active learning applications in the history of chemistry: Pre-service chemistry teachers’ level of knowledge and views

The main aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a History and Philosophy of Chemistry-I course based on active learning applications on the levels of knowledge of pre-service chemistry teachers about the history of chemistry as well as to explore their views regarding these applications. The results of the study indicated that active learning applications improved pre-service chemistry teachers’ knowledge levels about the history of chemistry and that the pre-service chemistry teachers had positive views about the instruction. At the same time, it was revealed that active learning applications help pre-service chemistry teachers develop abilities such as peer assessment, creativity, inter-group relationships and preparing posters.

Depending on the first and second research questions, an open-ended questionnaire was administered as a pre- and post-test. When the pre-service teachers’ responses at pre-test were analyzed, it was seen that most of the responses were very limited and related to scientists treated in the content of many chemistry courses in secondary school and the university, or in the field of physics, where they are often mentioned in books and in the media. For example, the pre-service chemistry teachers mostly gave examples of scientists related to atomic structure such as Dalton and Bohr before the instruction (see Table 3). At the same time, some responses in the field of physics, such as Newton-gravity, Archimedes-buoyant force and Tesla-electric power were identified at the beginning of the study. Similarly, many pre-service chemistry teachers stated that the lives of scientists in the field of physics such as Einstein, Newton, Edison and Archimedes had affected them (see Table 5). Another important finding was that many pre-service chemistry teachers did not have enough knowledge about the important periods of the history of chemistry before the instruction. Thus, pre-service chemistry teachers could mention only three periods, the prehistoric, the Renaissance and the period of Islamic alchemy, at pre-test (see Table 4). Also, in the study, it was revealed that most of the pre-service chemistry teachers explained the areas of application of chemistry from the past to the present according to their daily lives. In other words, the pre-service teachers could not consider the areas of application of chemistry in past periods such as in prehistoric times, the period of the Renaissance, or in the period of Islamic and European alchemy before the instruction (see Table 6).

After the instruction, it was observed that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels about the history of chemistry increased, and they provided more diverse and richer examples about the history of chemistry. For example, some responses involving scientists who had important roles in the development of chemistry, such as Ibn Sina, Maria the Jewess, Van Helmont, and Jabir Ibn Hayyan, and their contributions to chemistry were determined at post-test (see Table 2). At the same time, while the pre-service teachers at the beginning of the study mostly mentioned scientists who developed the atomic model, such as Dalton, and Bohr, or scientists in the field of physics such as Einsten, who had the biggest roles in the scientific development of chemistry, after the instruction, responses were recorded of scientists who had important roles in the history of chemistry such as Robert Boyle, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Ibn Sina, and Democritus-Leucippus (see Table 3). Similar results were identified in question 3; many pre-service teachers mentioned the lives of scientists in chemistry instead of scientists in the field of physics such as Einstein, Newton, and Edison at post-test (see Table 5). Also, the pre-service chemistry teachers’ responses related to important periods in the history of chemistry were examined and it was revealed that they emphasized important periods such as the Alexandrian era, the Middle Ages in Europe, modern chemistry, phlogiston, and the Iatro periods differently than before the instruction (see Table 4). One of the striking results was determined in question 5. When the pre-service chemistry teachers’ responses were analyzed, it was seen that they could gave responses based on not only their daily lives but also important periods in history of chemistry such as the Islamic and European alchemy eras and the period of the Renaissance (see Table 6). From these findings, it was understood that the History and Philosophy of Chemistry-I course based on active learning applications contributed to improving pre-service teachers’ levels of knowledge about the history of chemistry.

Regarding the third, and fourth research questions, the semi-structured interview was conducted with all of the pre-service chemistry teachers. According to an analysis of the interview, most of the pre-service chemistry teachers perceived active learning applications as enjoyable. This result is consistent with related literature (Kalem & Fer, 2003; Aydede & Matyar, 2009). The pre-service chemistry teachers also expressed that active learning applications help them to learn basic knowledge about the history of chemistry without memorizing. At the same time, the pre-service teachers stated that these active learning applications help them to develop abilities such as creativity, relationships between friends, peer assessment and preparing posters. These findings are in agreement with previous research findings that reveal that active learning applications help students develop relationships and improve their learning (Karamustafaoğlu, et al., 2006).

In the present study, firstly, the pre-service chemistry teachers carried out their research topics in small groups. Secondly, they presented oral presentations to the class, and in the third step, the groups summarized the research topics in their posters. After that, the pre-service teachers evaluated their peers’ posters according to the rubric, and discussed the positive and missing points of their peers’ posters. At the end of the lessons, the groups prepared timelines based on the features of the periods in the history of chemistry, presented these to the class, and had a discussion. At the same time, they shared their ideas with each others, interpreted and discussed. The National Research Council (1997) has stated that discussion, group activities, interesting and enjoyable learning environments are important in promoting learners’ learning process. Thus, the findings from the interviews indicated that the pre-service chemistry teachers were generally satisfied with the active learning applications. On the other hand, some of the pre-service chemistry teachers expressed the view that they had difficulty researching for the preparation of the posters since this was new for them. The pre-service teachers held this view even though the researchers had explained how a poster was prepared and presented posters to the class of pre-service teachers one week prior to the study. For this reason, different poster examples were available to examine and help the students in this task.

It would also be useful for studies to be conducted to compare the effects of active learning applications in a class using other teaching strategies in the history of chemistry. This study was conducted with only 38 pre-service chemistry teachers as a case-study. For this reason, it would be beneficial to conduct future studies in larger groups using enriched multiple tools such as observations and students’ diaries, which would help to generalize the results. Furthermore, “The History of Chemistry” may be integrated with chemistry lessons in the university and in secondary schools. Particularly, as stated by Wang and Cox-Petersen (2002), integrating the history of chemistry with daily chemistry instruction will contribute to producing more scientifically and culturally literate citizens.