A research approach to designing chemistry education using authentic practices as contexts

Albert Pilot (1) , Astrid M.W. Bulte (1) , Hanna B. Westbroek (1) , Onno de Jong (1)

1 Department of Chemistry

We discuss how to reduce the incongruence between outcomes (both cognitive and affective) of conventional secondary chemistry curriculum and what is to be attained: the meaningful connection of students' learning to daily life and societal issues. This problem is addressed by a design study with one curriculum unit about ‘Water Quality'. With several research cycles using developmental research, we developed an emergent understanding about an instructional framework for curriculum units that embodies a coherent ‘need-to-know' principle and is based on authentic practices. Using this framework we show with some other examples how a context-based chemistry curriculum can be constructed on basis of the developed ‘need-to-know' principle.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Albert Pilot, Astrid M.W. Bulte, Hanna B. Westbroek, Onno de Jong. A research approach to designing chemistry education using authentic practices as contexts. International Journal of Science Education, 2007, 28 (09), pp.1063-1086. ⟨10.1080/09500690600702520⟩. ⟨hal-00513321⟩