CHEMISTRY EDUCATION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2004, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 229-245	INVITED SPECIAL SECTION Contributions of Educational Research to the Practice of Chemistry Education Methods and issues of teaching and learning

Peter MAHAFFY
The King’s University College, Chemistry Department
(Edmonton, AB, Canada)

THE FUTURE SHAPE OF CHEMISTRY EDUCATION

ABSTRACT: Diverse forces shape the teaching and learning of chemistry at the beginning of the 21 st Century. These include fundamental changes in the contours of chemistry as defined by new interfaces and research areas; changes in our understanding of how students learn, and how that applies to chemistry education; the wide-spread implementation of computer and information technologies to visualize complex scientific phenomena; and external forces, such as global concerns about energy and water resources and the environment, and the level of chemical literacy and public understanding of science. In responding to those forces, new dimensions to learning chemistry must be emphasized. Tetrahedral chemistry education is a new metaphor that emphasizes these dimensions, stressing the importance both of the human learner and the web of human connections for chemical reactions and processes. Examples of ways to build on this metaphor in five areas of the chemistry curriculum are outlined. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.: 2004, 5, 229-245]

KEY WORDS: tetrahedral chemistry education; macroscopic-molecular-symbolic levels of chemistry; energy; environment; synthesis; visualization; chemistry of life

CORRESPONDENCE: Peter MAHAFFY, Chemistry Department, The King’s University College, 9125 50 th St., Edmonton, AB, Canada T6B 2H3; , fax: +780-465-3534; email: peter.mahaffy@kingsu.ca

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