oppor tunitie~ in edited by. RAYMOND D BANGS Roselle Park Hngh School

continuing education a"d r$r ETHYL L SCHULTZ

Marblehead Senlor Hlgh School

Continuing Education Program for High School Chemistry Teachers J. E. Bundschuh,' A. A. El-Awady, R. L. Hardin, B. G. Hughes, and R. W. Shelton Western Illinois University. Macomb. IL 61455

Since 1975 we have been offering continuing education oouortunities for hieh school chemistry teachers.Wsing a . . weekend format, claHses meet on ~ r i d a y evening and all day Saturdav. Successful completion of a take-home examination insures one-semester hour of credit. To date, more than 200 high school teachers have completed one or more of 30 courses while receiving a total of 580 hours of credit.

Sixteen of the courses were made possible by two grants from the National Science Foundation during 1979-1980. A listing of these courses and enrollment data are presented in Table 1. The grants provided for overnight accommodations on Friday, meals on Saturday, and mileage allowances. Tuition was waived bv the universitv. Participants were selected by the project s&f on the basis of the appiicants' interests, needs, and abilities. A geographical distribution of the NSF-sup- ported high school teachers is shown in the figure. Following the NSF oronam. one weekend course was offered during the summer bf i981 when twenty-one high school teachers en- rolled in an offering entitled Chemistry of the Transition Metals.

In general, two types of high school teachers have partici- pated: (1) underprepared or out-of-date teachers enrolled in courses which were of a remedial nature; and (2) weU-prepared teachvrs chose the special topics courses intmdrd I,, help t h m kecp pace in their field. \i'eekends devoted to lat~orutory safety and the history of chemistry attracted both types u t teachers.

We are attemotine to determine what kind of impact our . program is making on high school education in our region and to determine the interests and needs of potential participants. Twenty-five of the teachers who completed one or more of the six NSF-funded courses offered during the summer of 1980 volunteered to participate in a postprogram evaluation con- sisting of an extensive questionnaire followed by visits to se- lected participants' high schuuls hy one o i our pruject srsff members. This effort is providitlg us with usefuldata and firsthand obsewationv of high s c h d curricula and high school facilities. Table 2 summariz& the teachers' response~to topics in which they felt the need for more preparation. It is note-

Presented in part lo: The Great Lakes Reg ona Meeting of the Ameman Chemical Soclety in Macomb. I-, on J4ne 5, 1980. and the Amertcan Cnemical Soc ety Nat onai Meeting In New York. NY. On August 28, 1981. ' Present Address: School of Science and Humanities, Indiana Uni- versity-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne, IN 46805.

For a oreliminarv reoort: J. E. Bundschuh. A. A. El-Awadv. B. G.

Table 1. Sixteen Weekend Courses Funded by the Natlonal Science Foundation

Number of Topic Applicants

Methods of Chemical 45 Calculations

Atomic Theory and Bonding 54 Oxidation-Reduction 49 Chemical Calculations and Gas 34

Laws introduction to Polymer Chemishy Amino Acids and Roteins Laboratory Safety Historical Development of Modern

Chemistry Origin and Role of Environmental

Pollutants Shucture and Function of Proteins-

Enzymes Laboratory Safety Acid-Base Chemistry Elements of Organic Chemistry Methods of Chemical Calculations Atomic Thearv and Bondina

Number Selected

30

37 35 24

32 33 31 34

34

32

35 36 37 35 36

Oxidation-Reduction 52 36 Total: 851 537

Averan'?: 59 34 Hughes, atid J. W. ~kkpatrick, J. CHEM. EOUC., 54,693 (19773

Volume 59 Number 5 May 1982 407

Table 2. Toplcs in Which Teachers Fell Need tor More Preosratlon

Percent ReSDonJe

Industrial Chemical Processes The Solid State and Crystal Structure Analytical Techniques History of Chemistry Biochemisby Thermochemistry Oxidation-Reduction end Elechoohemisby Add-Ease Chemistry and Equilibria Qualitative Analysis Pericdicity and Descriptive Chemistry Equilibria Bonding and Molecular Structure Organic Chemisby Atomic Structure Solutions and Solution Chemistry Nomenclature The Mole Concept Gases and the Gas Laws

Distribution ol Participants for Sixteen Weekend Caunes Offared During 1979-1980.

worthy that 80 percent of the teachers would like a course in industrial chemistry.

Many high school teachers are interested in the subject matter that should be emphasized in high school chemistry courses from a university professor's viewpoint. We under- stand this to mean that they are concerned about how well their students will perform on standardized examinations and what grades these students will eventuallv earn in general chem&ry. While these are valid concerns, such attitudes combined with the "return to basics" philosophy that is prevalent in elementary and secondary education tend to exclude topics which are of an avolied or descriotive nature. Furthermore, the average teacher responding t o our ques- tionnaire received his or her undergraduate degree in 1964, a time when descriptive chemistry was de-emphasized in most college curricula.

Therefore. we believe it is imvortant that colleee and uni- ~ ~ ~ ~n~ ~~~~~~ ~~-~~

versity chemistry departments provide continuing education opportunities for high school teachers. In addition to offering a curriculum which serves to expand the knowledge of the well-prepared teacher, we perceive a significant need to help teachers with academic deficiencies who are required to teach chemistry because of budget cutbacks or the scarcitv of well- prepared high school chemistry teachers.

Acknowledgment The authors wish to acknowledee the assistance of the

National Science Foundation through their Pre-College Teacher Development in Science Program.

408 Journal of Chemical Education