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Research-based development of a lesson plan on shower gels and musk

fragrances following a socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to
chemistry teaching
Ralf Marks and Ingo Eilks
Received 18th April 2009, Accepted 29th September 2009
DOI: 10.1039/C005357K

A case is described of the development of a lesson plan for 10th grade (age range 15-16) chemistry
classes on the chemistry of shower gels. The lesson plan follows a socio-critical and problem-
oriented approach to chemistry teaching. This means that, aside from learning about the basic
chemistry of the components making up modern shower gels in the lab, the students should become
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sensitised to the evaluation of the product, i.e. reflecting upon the use of potentially harmful
ingredients. Therefore, the lesson plan also deals with the use of artificial musk fragrances in
cosmetic products. The lesson plan was developed within the framework of a Participatory Action
Research project. From the accompanying evaluation based on teachers' feedback, written student
questionnaires and a study based on students group discussions, the lesson plan was refined in
different cycles of development, testing, evaluation and reflection. In the end, the lesson plan was
found to be highly feasible, motivating, and an initiator of intense discussions among pupils. The
group discussions indicate that this teaching approach has the potential to promote a more balanced
and well thought-out view among at least some of the students when dealing with aspects of
consumer behaviour and reports in the media. The overall approach seems to be promising for
promoting higher-order cognitive skills, i.e. reflection and evaluation within the framework of
science, technology and society.

Keywords: socio-critical and problem-oriented chemistry teaching, STS education, shower gels,
fragrances

hormone-active. New generations of musk fragrances are

Introduction
Going to the supermarket to buy shower gel, shampoo or soap
is an everyday life occurrence. Quite often we see people
standing in the store, debating which shower gel to buy. As a
last resort, many buyers simply open the containers and smell
the products. The fragrance of a product is one of the most
important factors for deciding for or against a cosmetic
product. Unfortunately, in order to create a pleasant aroma,
nearly all modern shower gels contain musk fragrances.
However, the use of natural musks in most western countries
is no longer permitted due to the endangered status of the
musk deer. Therefore, artificial musks, which are cheap and
produced in volumes of over 2,000 metric tons per year in
Europe (EU), are substituted. Unfortunately, some of these
artificial musk fragrances are not decomposed by regular
wastewater treatment plants (Bester, 2005, 2007). The
substances are introduced into lakes and rivers, work their
way into the food chain and are finally bioaccumulated in
many species of fish. Recent studies have reported that some
of these artificial musk fragrances were found in the human
body, especially in fatty tissue and breast milk. Research has
also provided indications that these musk fragrances can be
University of Bremen, Department of Biology and Chemistry, Institute for
Science Education, Leobener Str. NW 2, 28334 Bremen, Germany.
E-mail: ingo.eilks@uni-bremen.de
being developed and may represent a better alternative,
although they might not yet have been tested thoroughly
enough to definitively describe their behaviour in nature or
their effects on the body. Thus, they might be even worse than
the previous generation of fragrances.
This problem can be used to create a socio-critical and
problem-oriented approach to chemistry teaching (Marks and
Eilks, 2009). Aside from learning about the components used
to make shower gels, and their chemical behaviour in an
experimental mode, the above-mentioned lesson plan
stimulates a debate about the use of products in our modern
life-style such as shower gels, including the potential effects
our modern life causes to e.g. the environment. Debate (Marks
et al., 2007) is initiated by asking the students to write one-
minute TV-news reports using different sources of
information to learn how chemistry-related information is
handled in the media.
This paper discusses the theoretical and scientific
background of the lesson plan. It includes a description of the
evidentially based development of the lesson plan based on
Participatory Action Research for 10th grade (age range 15-16)
chemistry classes. It provides an overview on the lesson plan,
experiences gained through its application, and the results of
the accompanying evaluation.

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Educational framework: a socio-critical and
problem-oriented approach to chemistry teaching
Starting with an example based on the ecological evaluation
of biodiesel usage about ten years ago, Eilks (e.g. Eilks, 2000,
2002a) described a new conceptual approach to secondary
Chemistry teaching in Germany. This approach was entitled
A socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to
Chemistry teaching. More detailed descriptions of the
approach were discussed in a series of earlier papers in
German or English (e. g. Eilks, 2002a, Marks et al., 2008,
Eilks et al., 2008, or Marks and Eilks, 2009). Nevertheless, a
short overview follows.
The socio-critical, problem-oriented approach to chemistry
teaching aims to promote students motivation and improving
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lesson plans (e.g. Eilks et al., 2008; Marks and Eilks, 2009).
Potential issues for our approach have to fulfil specific criteria
to satisfy our intentions. The starting points of our lesson
plans are always authentic and current problems being
controversially discussed in society and present in current
newspapers or other available media. These examples from
the media are used to introduce the lesson plan and to prompt
the first questions and discussions, e.g., newspaper articles,
brochures from pressure groups, advertisements or reports on
TV. Only those issues are chosen that bring in authentic
differences of opinion expressed in the public debate by
different stakeholders or pressure groups. Issues are
inappropriate if only one-sided solutions are possible, or if
taking the position for a specific view on the topics will be
considered as unacceptable for scientific, ethical, or

their attitudes towards chemistry and chemistry teaching, and

sociological reasons by a majority of the class. Only those
aims to achieve a broad range of educational goals (Marks and
issues are selected that are open to real decision-making. The
Eilks, 2009). The basic intention is to promote advanced
teaching activities challenge students to make up their own
Scientific Literacy in the sense of Bybee (1997). Stemming
minds and express their opinions in an open forum. They
from the German tradition, this teaching approach aims to
ensure that learners can express their personal point-of-views
foster Allgemeinbildung (for the German tradition behind the
without being judged, censored or condemned as outsiders by
term Allgemeinbildung (general education) see e.g. Klafki,
the rest of the group. All the lesson plans teach basic
2000), meaning a readiness for life and participation in a
chemistry theory. They are built on a foundation of students
modern society based on science and technology, as discussed
lab-work and the use of open methods of learner-centred
by Roth and Lee (2004) or Elmose and Roth (2005). A
instruction, e.g. forms of co-operative learning, such as the
foundation was established referring to the STS (Science,
jigsaw classroom (e.g. Marks et al., 2008) or the learning at
Technology and Society) framework (e.g. Bybee, 1987;
stations method (e.g. Eilks, 2002b). Discussion techniques
Hofstein and Yager, 1988; Yager and Tamir, 1993; Solomon
are used to draw out different points-of-view, to recognise
and Aikenhead, 1994; Grber, 2002; Fensham, 2005;
how oppositional they can be, and to see how such opinions
Aikenhead, 2007) and was expanded with reference to activity
are presented, promoted and manipulated within society at
theory as outlined by van Aalsvoort (2004 a and b). With
large.
reference to Holbrook and Rannikmae (2007), the central idea
In short, the teaching approach has to start from societally
of this framework is not only to promote the learning of
relevant, current, authentic, and controversially discussed
science in the sense of science through education, but also to
issues from within society. In this respect, the chosen
promote education through science.
approach can be considered as a context-based approach to
Our conceptual framework contains many parallels to the
chemistry teaching. But, the framework used here goes
approach of Scientific and Technological Literacy for All
beyond choosing contexts of any kind. Only those context are
(STL) as outlined by Holbrook in the late 1990s (e.g.
appropriate for the here outlined objectives that represent a
Holbrook, 1998) and as it was developed further parallel to
socio-scientific issue of specific character, that are societal
our approach (e.g. Holbrook, 2003; Holbrook and Rannikmae,
authentic, controversial in nature, and relevant for decisions
2007). The core objectives of the socio-critical, problem-
concerning the students life and future actions in society (see
oriented approach to Chemistry teaching (e.g. Eilks et al.,
e.g. Zeidler, 2003; Sadler, 2004). But, these issues must have
2008; Marks and Eilks, 2009) are:
the potential to allow for the learning of basic chemistry
to increase students interest in science and technology and
content knowledge, and they must also open up discussion and
to reveal the relevance of science in societal discussions
open decision-making processes. This is in line with Sadler
and decision making,
(2004), who described the most fruitful settings for science
to make the students aware of their own interests, to
education as:
motivate students to develop self-interest (either as
those which encourage personal connections between
consumers or within political decision making), and to
students and the issues discussed, explicitly address the
provoke individual decision-making processes,
value of justifying claims and expose the importance of
to promote students competence in the critical use of
attending to contradictory opinions.
information and in their reflection upon why, when and how
science-related information is used by affected groups or
Chemistry background: artificial musk fragrances
for public purposes, and
to promote student-active science learning motivated by Synthetic musk fragrances are used as perfumes in a wide
relevant, contentious socio-scientific issues. range of cosmetic products, soaps and cleaners. They are
From developing various examples, we identified several produced in amounts of over 2,000 tons a year in Europe (EU)
key elements of our socio-critical and problem-oriented and are therefore characterized as high volume chemicals.
approach to chemistry lessons and a common structure for the Musks are indispensable for the body care and detergent/soap

130 | Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2010, 11, 129141 This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010
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wastewater facilities, since the solids are frequently

contaminated with synthetic musk fragrances (Simonich et al.,
2002). In Germany 40% of sewage sludge is used by
agriculture, and is therefore introduced directly into our
personal environments. Through these phenomena, we see a
recycling of harmful substances: musk fragrances pass
through the human body several times, thereby increasing
their base levels in our tissues and organs. For a concise
Galaxolide (HHCB) Tonalide (AHTN) overview about research on synthetic musk fragrances and
their presence and effects in the environment see Bester
Fig. 1 The structures of two synthetic polycyclic musk fragrances: (2007).
Galaxolide (HHCB, 1,3,4,6,7,8-Hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethyl- There have been almost no legislative or legal constraints
cyclopenta-[g]-2-benzopyran) and Tonalide (AHTN, 7-Acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6- on the use of synthetic musk fragrances up to now. There is no
hexamethyltetralin).
way for consumers to discern whether the products they
industries, since they easily attach themselves to the surface purchase contain synthetic musk fragrances (and of which
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of the skin and are cheap to produce. Synthetic musk type) or not, because lists of detailed product ingredients are
fragrances are divided into three different categories of optional and not a legal requirement. Consumer tests of
substances: nitromusks, polycyclic musks and macrocyclic shower gels, however, can clarify this question for buyers. For
musks. In recent years, the suspected cancer-causing example, the German journal kotest, a magazine testing
nitromusks have been almost completely replaced by consumer products with respect to their health and
polycyclic products. The commercially most important environmental effects, used the presence of synthetic musk
substances are HHCB and AHTN (trade names Galaxolide and fragrances as a weed-out factor in its testing.
Tonalide, Figure 1) which, when taken together, control a
market percentage of over 95%. At present, macrocyclic Evidence based curriculum development by
fragrances, which are allegedly more environmentally Participatory Action Research
friendly, are being introduced into the market. However, there
The following lesson plan was developed and evaluated
have not yet been sufficient analytical tests performed upon
within a project of Participatory Action Research (PAR) in
these substances to prove or disprove these claims (e.g.
chemistry education as described in Eilks and Ralle (2002).
Bester, 2007).
The approach was selected to sustainably implement STS-
Synthetic musk fragrances end up in wastewater systems in
oriented teaching in the classroom and to avoid teachers
large amounts from private homes and industrial concerns,
falling back into habitual patterns when confronted by a new
thanks to widespread societal use of cleaning agents and body
teaching strategy in an in-service course design only (Pedretti
care products (Artola-Garicano et al., 2003). Because a large
and Hodson, 1995; Rannikmae, 2006).
percentage of these substances pass through sewage treatment
In PAR projects, practising teachers and university
plants largely chemically unaltered, they are eventually
researchers in chemical education jointly develop lesson
discharged intact into streams, rivers and lakes by municipal
plans, teaching methods and materials. From a systematic
water clarification plants (Simonich et al., 2002). Therefore,
analysis of different sources of information (i.e., research
the concentration of synthetic musk fragrances is noticeably
reports, personal experiences of the teachers, didactical and
high near discharge points for clarified wastewater (Eilks and
methodological analysis, or reflections about the chemistry
Bester, 2003).
content structure), first-draft lesson plans are negotiated
Synthetic aromas are easily stored in the fatty tissues of
within the action research group, until all practitioners agree
aquatic organisms due to their lipophilic nature, especially in
that the new lesson plan is potentially helpful for improving
the tissues of oily fishes (Eschke et al., 1995a; Hajslova et
practice. Then, through subsequent cycles of development,
al., 1998; Gaterman et al., 2002). This is problematic, because
testing, evaluation and reflection/revision, the group seeks to
two of the most important musk fragrances, Galaxolide and
improve the lesson plan step-by-step. Accompanying the
Tonalide, have shown hormone-active effects and may lead to
process of development, different kinds of evaluation data are
falling levels of fertility in male fish (Seinen et al., 1999;
collected as a baseline for better understanding the effects of
Bester, 2007). This effect has not yet been documented in
the lesson plan and the implemented changes. The data is used
humans; however, researchers fear that these musk fragrances
to optimise the lesson plan, but also to learn about teaching-
will have similar effects in the human body. Their guess is
learning-settings within authentic circumstances (Figure 2).
that musks function as triggers for allergies. This is especially
While further developing the lesson plans, increasingly more
worthy of attention, because synthetic musk fragrances have
learning groups are involved and the focus shifts in a three
already been detected being stored in human tissues (Mller et
step model towards the implementation (Figure 3).
al., 1996) and, even more problematically, in human breast
The lesson plan on shower gels was developed and refined
milk (Eschke et al., 1995b). Human uptake of these synthetic
within a group of 15 teachers from different grammar, middle,
substances can occur epidermally or through ingestion or
and comprehensive schools in western Germany 1. The group
inhalation.
has been working together in this setting for more than eight
A further problem can be found in the sludge produced by
years (Eilks, 2003; 2007). It meets about every four weeks for

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Fig. 3 The three phases of the development process (Eilks and Ralle,
2002).

Table 1 Overview of the development and testing process

Development Testing
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School year Developing the lesson plan

2005/2006 Negotiations in the action
research group Pre-testing in a grammar
school class, teachers
feedback, students written
feedback
Revisions in the lesson plan
Fig. 2 Participatory Action Research within chemical education (Eilks Finalizing the teaching
and Ralle, 2002). materials

an entire afternoon. The description in this paper is about the School year Testing first cycle in two
2006/2007 grammar school classes,
first two phases of PAR as outlined in Figure 3.
teachers feedback, students
After a pre-test in a grammar school class, the lesson plan
Reflection within the action written feedback
was further developed in two cycles totalling about a year, research group
and tested in four 10th grade learning groups (age range 15- Minor revisions on single
16) from different comprehensive and grammar schools with a teaching materials
total of 98 students (Table 1). The teachers reports on their School year Testing second cycle in on
experiences did not lead to major revisions of the lesson plan 2007/2008 grammar school and one
between the different test sequences, but helped to gain comprehensive school class,
teachers feedback, students
evidence for optimizing the approach and the teaching
written feedback, group
materials in detail.
Reflection within the action discussion
Data were collected from the teachers reflections and research group
discussions during the regular meetings of the action research
group. An open questionnaire was used to record students
reflections covering three open questions about (I) what they Table 2 Semi-structured interview guide for the group discussions
considered to be the most important thing they might have
learned, (II) their opinions on the lesson plan, and (III) what Pre-discussions Post-discussions
they now thought about musk fragrances in shower gels. After (1) What are the main contents that (1) Why do you think that all
you learned in your previous students should learn chemistry in
the open questionnaire, a Likert-type feedback questionnaire
chemistry lessons? school?
recording students opinions of the lesson plan (similar to a
(2) How did you work in chemistry (2) Was this lesson different from
combination of questionnaires described in Eilks, 2002a) was lessons before? the usual ones?
used. (3) How does an average chemistry (3) In your view, what are the main
To evaluate further whether the lesson plan had an impact lesson proceed? things that you have learned?
on a) the affective domain, b) critical thinking skills and c) the (4) Did you learn something in your (4) In the last few weeks you have
development of competency in communication and valuation, chemistry lessons that you could learned a lot about shower gels.
a study based on group discussions (e.g. Albe, 2008) was use at home or in your free time? Did it make you more thoughtful
about your consumer behaviour?
added in the last two learning groups of this sample. The
or:
conversations were structured around a semi-structured (4) In the last few weeks you have
discussion guide consisting of five questions (Table 2), which learned a lot about shower gels.
had been developed and used in a similar way to other Did it make you more thoughtful
about the use of shower gels?
examples for the same teaching approach (e. g. Marks et al.,
2008; Marks and Eilks, 2008b). Within the interview guide, (5) What do you wish for in (5) Could you imagine that your
chemistry lessons? behaviour might change because of
each of the questions was supplemented by expected the things you learned about
characteristics of students potential answers and by shower gels?
additional prompts in case the discussion stalled. The learning
groups were asked to reflect on chemistry lessons before the

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socio-critical style lesson plan was implemented. After the

lessons concluded, they were asked to reflect upon the shower
gel unit, its structure and realisation. The discussions were led
without the presence of the class teachers, in order to ensure
an open talk.
Group discussions were conducted with the learning groups
from the last cycle of testing. The two learning groups for the
first cycle of testing and evaluation in phase 2 (see Figure 3)
were regular 10th grade grammar school classes without any
specific characteristics. Groups 3 and 4 in the second cycle of
phase 2 deserve extra attention with respect to the group
discussions. Here, we contrasted two completely different
learning styles to localise any different perceptions of the
lesson plan stemming from both motivated and less-motivated
learning groups. Group 3 was, therefore, chosen from a highly
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Fig. 4: Overview on the lesson plan (h = one lesson period of 45 minutes)

motivated, high-achieving, 10th grade grammar school class.
Group 4 consisted of an extremely weak, low-achieving 10th
grade group from a comprehensive school, and had, on
average, significantly lower socioeconomic status. Teachers
expected the motivation of these students to be extremely low
both to working hard during the lesson and participating in the
group discussion.
Each group discussion lasted about thirty to forty minutes,
was audio-taped and analysed following the tenets of
qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2000). The focus of the
analysis looked at whether the students perceived changes in
their views of chemistry teaching. The data was also analysed
as to whether the students reflected upon the relationship
between science and its use in society-related discussions
within the public sphere (Marks et al., 2008a). Additionally,
the artefacts from the students' work were collected and
analysed.
Practice: The lesson plan
The lesson plan (Marks, Witte & Eilks, 2007) consists of 8-10
forty-five minute classroom periods, taking about 5 weeks at
two periods a week. It is structured for regular German 10th
grade (age-range 15-16) chemistry lessons. The embedded
basic chemistry knowledge about detergents and their function
are part of the official government syllabus in Germany for
this grade level. A first overview is given in Figure 4.
In the initial lesson, various shower gels are presented to
the pupils. These can be brought by the students themselves or
provided by the teacher. The products should retain their price
tags and include supermarket items, products from discounters
or dollar stores, brand-name articles, and examples of
shower products without fragrances and/or preservatives. The
students are called on to choose one of the products and list
their reasoning on a slip of paper. The reasons are then
grouped on the blackboard in clusters of similar arguments. In
fact, most of the students mention the smell of the product as
a leading criterion for their choice. This criterion is always
followed by the image of the product and the appearance of
the package. Reasons of a good function as detergent, skin
care ingredients or other reasons (e.g. pH-
neutrality/hypoallergenic) are rarely mentioned.
The teacher keeps a list of terms ready comprising possible
aspects that would be considered by a consumer protection
agency or marketing firm. These terms are matched with the
students' blackboard clusters. A discussion is led as to which
criteria from the groups were or were not used by the pupils
themselves for their initial decisions. An authentic text, taken
from a consumer test magazine (kotest, 2004), provides the
learners with extra information for thought and discussion. At
this point, the criteria used by a consumer protection
organization are brought to the fore and the five major
ingredients of a shower gel are explained: detergents, skin
care ingredients, fragrances, dyestuffs and preserving agents.
It is also important to mention which of these substances are
actually necessary for a shower gel to carry out its tasks to
clean and care for the skin, and which are only added for other
reasons.
The explanation of the basic chemistry behind the function
of a shower gel and its ingredients takes place in a learning-
at-stations setting (e.g. Eilks, 2003). Within a learning-at-
stations, the learners work for 2-3 classroom periods (45 min.
each) to complete a total of eight learning stations and their
content. The stations are offered in the classroom and contain
different activities, e.g. experiments, texts or modeling tasks.
Within the learning-at-stations method students are allowed to
allocate the time they have to the different stations as they
wish, and to decide about the sequence of doing the tasks
offered by the stations on their own within small groups of 3
to 4. For especially talented or rapid groups, two optional
extra stations with in-depth information are offered. Table 3
gives an overview of the various stations.
In order to link newly-learned chemistry knowledge to the
problem of using musk fragrances, a video is shown. The film
gives an overview of how fragrances are extracted and then
used by perfume makers. The film also discusses the problem
of gaining natural musk fragrances from musk deer and also
touches upon the problem of using synthetic musk fragrances,
much as it was also introduced by the text from the consumer
test magazine.
The journalist method (Marks and Eilks, 2008a; Marks,
Otten and Eilks, in print) is used to start a discussion on the
use of synthetic musk fragrances and to introduce how
information is handled by journalists in the public media. This
method was specifically created for the lesson plan described
here. Within it, the students must produce a news report on

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Table 3 Learning-at-stations

Area Station name Short description

Tensides Explanation of the cleaning effect Film/Animation (Notebook station): The pupils watch an animation from a videofilm about washing
(surfactants) agents in the means of a model explanation of detergent molecules having a hydrophilic and a
hydrophobic part. The students have to expand a picture series, which summarizes the animation in
six steps.
Dissolving and emulsifying Experiment: The emulsifying effect of detergents is tested by shaking various combinations of oil-
water mixtures with and without washing agents. The students have to record their observations and
formulate their results.
Washing with and without Experiment: The washing effect with and without detergents is tested by the pupils, who must clean
detergents oily pieces of plastic with pure water and washing up solution. The results are recorded and
formulated into a conclusion.
Fragrances Smelling Model: A text is used to introduce the lock-and-key model of the process of smelling.
Understanding is deepened by using a model in which students have to assign pictures of ball-and-
stick-models of fragrance molecules to a model of respective olfactory receptors.
A fragrance from oranges Experiment: Orange oil is extracted by the pupils, using alcohol. It can later be used in the
manufacture of their own shower gel.
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Various fragrances Experiment: The students smell various shower gels and identify the fragrance classifications using a
table of odors.
Further Additives for color, skin care and Text: Pupils work out an expanded ingredient list for shower gels and the meaning of the extra
ingredients preservation ingredients, such as dyestuffs and preservatives.
Manufacturing The manufacture of a shower gel Experiment: The learners manufacture their own shower gel by mixing the different ingredients from
a modular mixing system for cosmetics, which they can take home with them.
Bonus stations Synthesis of a fragrance Experiment: Students synthesize a fragrance by esterification using an acidic resin as catalyst.
Tenside types Text: At this station advanced learners can work out examples for the various structures of different
detergents (anionic, cationic, non-ionic).

Table 4 Perspectives of the news tickers

Groups Perspective Description

A1/A2 Consumer protection agency Test results and concerns about human contact with potentially hormone-activated and allergenic substances.
B1/B2 The cosmetics industry Cost pressures and marketing of a competitive product
C1/C2 Environmental protection The effects of synthetic musks in/on Nature
groups
D1/D2 The wastewater treatment Problems and costs for wastewater treatment and clarification
community

the topic as if they were working in the editorial pool of a TV
news show. They receive their information through different
news tickers, much like journalists would take their
information from e.g. Reuters, DPA or AP. Within each of the
various news tickers, a set of short messages are offered
which talk about the topic with respect to a different
perspective on the issue (see Figure 5). There are a total of
four different news tickers. The individual tickers deal with
the perspectives a consumer protection agency, the cosmetics
industry, the wastewater treatment community and
environmental protection groups might have (see Table 4).
Two independent groups of about three pupils are assigned
to each perspective. This ensures that all four perspectives
receive double coverage and commentary. The purpose is to
show the students how information taken from the exact same
sources will often be presented differently by two different
people. The students should consider how the same
information is handled by different journalists and how
varied the results can be. They should also think about the
role the journalists' subject knowledge plays in their
understanding the scientific background of a product and
arriving at their conclusions. But, pupils must also discover
what tricks are necessary to attract audiences to the news, how
Imagine that you are reporters for the editorial department of CNN
and you receive the following information. Summarize and
compress the information into a news story of about 1 minute in
length.
http://www.wwf.de/naturschutz/arten/bedrohte-arten/moschustier/: 8:17
"Good news nonetheless. In sharp contrast to past centuries,
Europe's perfume industry today uses synthetic musk fragrances
almost exclusively..."
The Body Shop Catalogue 2005; 11.11.05 6:18:
"With White Musk we created a fragrance that became a worldwide
best-seller. But we are proud of it for other reasons: It was the first
perfume to be made from synthetic musk, thereby protecting the musk
deerThe fragrance is especially well-loved in central Asia, where the
musk deer lives, and he is most certainly happy that we are leaving him
in peace."
Fig. 5. Student material: News ticker providing information on the
viewpoints of the cosmetics industry (entire news ticker texts available in
German and English at
http://www.idn.uni-bremen.de/chemiedidaktik/materialien.php)

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Fig. 6 Results from the Likert-type questionnaire (N = 98; 50 female, 48 male).
much information can be presented in a minute, and
superficial information is needed and often is used by
journalists to report on a complex topic on TV.
In the end, the news clips are presented and evaluated by
the whole class following these criteria: comprehensibility,
presentation and content information. A meta-discussion at
the end leads to discussion and comparison of the different
perspectives. The learners reflect upon the various character
portrayals and argumentative positions of the various interest
groups. This phase of final reflection is very important for
reaching the stated goals of the unit. The phase leads to an
overview of how complex such a simple question like Which
shower gel I should buy or use? can be.
Experiences: evidence from the accompanying
research
The teachers views
In their reflections within the action research group meetings,
the teachers considered the lesson plan to be highly feasible,
and described it as very motivating to their students. They
described a very positive learning atmosphere and active
discussions, which stemmed from the intense student on-task
activity, and a high level of success within learning at stations
and the journalists method phases. From the teachers point-
of-view, the lesson plan was seen to have great potential for
promoting the debate over contents in shower gels in
particular and about ingredients of consumer products in
general. The central instance for considering the lesson plan
as highly motivating and promoting the feeling of relevance
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among the students was seen by the teachers in the
controversial character of the chosen debate. Within the
discussion it was repeatedly stated that just having an
emphasis on everyday life contexts from the teachers
experiences does not lead to a comparable motivation and
participation of the students into a chemistry lesson plan.
From the teachers perspective, such contexts have to be
authentic, controversial in nature and open for individual
decisions if such context is to reveal its full potential for
motivating students and provoke the feeling of relevance, as it
was outlined above in the quote from Sadler (2004) and as it
has proved on a lot of different examples following the same
ideas (see e.g. the overview Marks and Eilks, 2009). The
controversial character was identified as the prime factor in
stimulating the students intense engagement with the topic
and their interest in discussion and expressing individual
thoughts and opinions. These intense and open discussions
were seen as of great potential to promote students
competencies in communication and evaluation which are
major objectives of the chosen teaching strategy. The positive
assessment of the teachers is similar to the feedback described
on other examples following the same approach (e. g. Marks
et al., 2008; Marks and Eilks, 2008b) or by Millar (2006),
who used a related approach.
The students views in the written questionnaires
The first questionnaire asked the students three questions: (I)
what they considered to be the most important thing they
might have learned, (II) their opinions on the lesson plan, and
(III) what they now thought about musk fragrances in shower
Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2010, 11, 129141 | 135

gels. Initially, all answers on questions (I) and (II) were
summarised and categorised as to whether they referred to
either the teaching methods or the topic. Each answer was
evaluated as to whether they viewed the lesson plan as
positive or negative. Of the 98 students, 79 labelled the topics
as positive and no student saw it as negative. 76 students
mentioned that the teaching methods were positive, whereas
only 6 students characterised it as negative.
From the Likert questionnaire (Figure 6), we see that most
students liked to discuss topics, which they normally would
not have designated as chemistry based on their own
experiences. Nearly 80% of the pupils agreed (at least
partially) that they liked the lesson plan, because it not only
dealt with chemistry, at least with what they understand as
chemistry. From the open questions it might be assumed that
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the other 20% were not so positive because (1) some of them
already missed the lab activities in the second phase of the
lesson plan, and (2) for some of the students in one of the
learning groups the character of working was too intensively
based on cooperative activities, which they didnt like much.
Most of the pupils agreed, at least partially, that the topic
was personally interesting to them. This point-of-view can
well be illustrated by quotes from the open questionnaires:
"Very good, fun and everyone can keep up. It's not too
sluggish; good topic, because it's more closely related to
life, not too chemical."
"The lessons were good, because you learn about things
that you can use in everyday life."
"It was fun to do all of the experiments and to learn more
about the shower gels that one uses every day. The work
was varied and something different from always just atoms
and molecules."
Overall, the students liked the change in the teaching
methods and felt that chemistry teaching becomes less boring
through the implementation of new methods (Figure 6,
Methods). This consideration also can be found in the open
questionnaires:
"Very good, because the information stays in your memory
better due to personal experimentation and working on the
question. The manner of teaching was great fun and
strengthened our team spirit."
In one of the learning groups, in which the learning-at-
stations method was used very frequently, there were also
critical remarks that this form of learning was very stressful:
"Actually pretty good, but a little stressful some of the time.
Maybe teaching without learning at stations would be more
effective than lessons with it. In my opinion, students
concentrate less and are less attentive than they are in
normal lessons."
The students mentioned the initial and controversial
discussions concerning various aspects of evaluations, which
were intensified through the preparation and execution of the
journalist method. It was important for the students to be able
to promote their own opinions about shower gels as
consumers. One student wrote:
"I personally enjoyed it because it was so varied and this
topic centred around us. We have to wash with the shower
gels."
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Nevertheless, looking at the overall Likert-questionnaires,
most students mentioned that they had not made thoughtful
choices when choosing their shower gels. But they mentioned
a change in their viewpoints (see Figure 6, Reflection).
When they were asked in the open questionnaire to name the
most important things which they had learned in the past few
weeks of chemistry lessons, several students stressed the
importance of considering different points-of-view:
"I learned a lot about shower gels, soaps and their
ingredients, which I normally never would have expected.
Additionally, I learned that not all ingredients are good for
the environment and that you have to look at everything
from two perspectives; for example, in the case of musk
fragrances ..."
The questions about perceived success and the objectives of
the lesson is a good indicator of whether the students begin to
recognise that they are acquiring competencies of a general
nature. Such abilities can help the students make up their own
minds on different topics in the future (Eilks, 2003). Many of
the students answers mirrored their perceived personal
success in the area of learning how to make a decision on a
topic which is difficult. This recognition also can be seen by
answers to the question: How do you judge the use of
synthetic musk fragrances in shower gels?
I think that it is difficult to have an opinion on this
question. On the one hand, there is the danger for the
environment when synthetic musk fragrances are used. We
have to ask ourselves whether it is more sensible to find a
solution to the water purification side of the problem, or to
continue research for other, healthier musk fragrances.
On the other hand, natural musks still exist, but there the
problem is that the animals which produce it are threatened
by extinction. We can only hope that enough money is
dedicated to research efforts.
The news spots and the following discussion
Using the perspective of a consumer protection group (Table
4), Table 5 shows two examples of the students work on the
journalist task. They show how varied and information-packed
news spots from two different student teams working on the
same topic can be. We can see how the students handled the
task, and which criteria of the task they chose to follow. Both
groups tried to avoid too many scientific terms and excessive
jargon, even though such items appeared on the news ticker.
Both groups chose the word label instead of list of
ingredients. One group used the term stability, which had
been defined to them as an explanation for persistence.
Group A1 had an even harder time describing the possible
dangers they were presented with, and eventually decided on
the word unhealthy for the purpose. Group A2 used the word
contaminated very accurately, even though the news ticker
only used the term to find/to be found. This group
realistically used a journalistic hook in their television report:
Once again, traces of musk fragrances have been found in our
foodstuffs. Both messages kept a satisfactory distance from
their documentary sources: (Group A1: Greenpeace
reported). However, various unseemly formulations
could be found in all of the news reports. In both messages,
This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010

the term to spray aroma was used. Overall, the news reports
mainly concentrated on the news tickers. Both groups
interpreted the information they received, and cut it to a
prescribed length for the news report. The choice of content
showed similarities and differences among the groups.
Perspectives were very quickly recognised by the other pupils
through use of source quotes (Group A2 Greenpeace,
consumer protection groups, etc.).
Despite small mistakes and inconsistencies, all the news
spots showed how motivating the task was for the students.
All the pupils were actively engaged in contending with the
topic. They looked for innovative ways to comprehensibly
communicate science-related information to other people.
From the classroom observations, it became clear that the
results of the journalist-method were only the starting points
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of a discussion among the students.
The actual socio-critical observations took place
predominantly in the discussion after presentation of the news
spots. These were carried out in a professional, open and very
controversial manner in all the learning groups, including the
lower-achieving Group 4. The pupils recognised the dilemma
within the topic and summarised conclusions affecting the
total societal network. The pupils included many different
perspectives in their discussions: cost pressure on the
producers, consumer wishes and lack of consumer interest, job
security, lobbying by producers, the lack of mandatory lists
for product ingredients/contaminants, the question of home
production or foreign imports, the role of advertising, etc.
The following quotation should make it clearer how
intensively the pupils worked with the problems involved,
even when they had difficulties in competently defending
their positions:
(T: Teacher; S: Student)
(T): "Would you vote for a party that would spend 5 million
Euros for wastewater treatment plants?"
(S): "Yes, but only if no jobs were lost by the action."
(T): "Are water treatment plants the only possibilities for
solving the problem? How can we get the problem under
control?"
(S1): "Either we can use other fragrances and smaller
amounts of it, or simply avoid the product."
(S2): "Then I would choose another shower gel!"
(S3): "Unfortunately, it is in almost every product. There
are thousands of other people who will continue to buy it."
(S4): "It isn't listed on the packing."
(S5): "We could buy products with absolutely no
fragrances. A long time ago there were no fragrances."
(T): "To build new water plants or refurbish them costs 3-5
million. Who should pay for it?"
(S6): "The government."
(S1): "No, better new substances should be researched!"
(T): "Who is interested in that?"
(S1): "The shower gel producers should do something, too."
(S3): "We have to make it clear to the government and the
people that research can also save them money. Fewer
people get sick, costs fall and the people are healthier.
The different cognitive levels of the pupils were
recognisable in their different patterns of argumentation,
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especially when the discussion was led towards potential
solutions. A suggestion to abstain from fragrances completely
can be classified as somewhat nave, and was more often
suggested by lower-achieving students. However, it became
abundantly clear, especially through critical remarks of higher
achieving students, that differentiated argumentation was
employed and that the possible implementation of the various
ideas was carefully weighed. Within the discussions, all the
students obviously recognised that this question was not easy
to answer. They quickly recognised that the prohibition of
certain substances could not completely solve the problem.
The pupils concluded that legal requirements, such as a
mandatory declaration of ingredients, were difficult to
implement. The students also understood that although legal
steps were necessary, they did not represent a universal
solution, since many consumers do not understand how to
interpret such information properly.
The group discussions
Past experience with similar lesson plans using group
discussions as an instrument (Marks et al., 2008; Marks and
Eilks, 2008b) showed that different groups of pupils tend to
answer with similar, repetitive answers. It has proven best to
make a direct comparison of the similarities, differences and
idiosyncrasies of the responses to get the most accurate
picture.
In the pre-discussions, both groups described their previous
chemistry lessons as being exclusively structured along the
content structure of the subject. Although the teachers stated
that they had attempted to use commonplace examples of
subject matter from everyday life in certain phases of their
teaching, the relevance and relatedness of chemistry towards
the students life went mainly unnoticed by most of the
students. In Group 3, a few higher-achieving students could
spontaneously describe chemistry phenomena and theories
from their lessons in detail and use scientifically-correct
language, e.g. concerning the redox series or galvanic cells.
But, they did not refer to everyday-life applications or
connections. The lower-achieving pupils in all learning groups
could only remember isolated experiments with fire,
impressive colours or explosions and were unable to integrate
them into their theoretical framework.
In both groups, direct questions revealed a few connections
between chemistry teaching and students everyday lives: the
calorie value of chocolate, fuel cells, and energy sources of
the future. Whenever these details came to the fore, the
students spontaneously agreed that these examples make
chemistry lessons more motivating:
S.: "I like topics that have everyday uses better than
learning 1,000 tiny details without a single one that is
useful for everyday life, because they are easier to
understand. I also think that the topic with chocolate is
more interesting than when I know how an atom is put
together."
Whereas some of the higher-achieving pupils found just
such phases especially good:
S.: "I actually liked it when we had no idea about the things
at the beginning. Afterwards this became clear to us. I
Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2010, 11, 129141 | 137

really like the topic of atomic structure because we learned
lots of new things."
For the majority of students, however, chemistry teaching
was viewed as unmotivating. Most of the students considered
the content structured approach to be boring, and thought that
it didn't lead to relevant competencies or knowledge. This can
be seen in the following quote when the reaction of sodium
with chlorine was mentioned:
S.: "You don't need such things. For example, I won't ever
need the reaction between sodium and chlorine again if I
don't want to do anything related to Chemistry."
A second example concerned the reaction of hydrochloric
acid and metals:
I.: "Was that useful for you?"
S.: "It's not worth anything at home. We don't have any
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metals or hydrochloric acid at home."
S2.:"I have forgotten everything. That's just knowledge for
the exam."
When asked explicitly, none of Group 4 and few students in
Group 3 had any idea which chemistry topics existed that
might prove interesting or relevant for them. Most of the
students, especially in Group 4, view chemistry as a purely
rote memorisation class. They expressed great dissatisfaction
because of their upcoming examination. The students
criticised the lessons because of the approach to teaching by
the frequent posing of questions, and complained that they
had to solve the questions by using their textbooks only. The
quantity of information and the demonstration experiments
were also criticised, because the students would have much
rather performed the experiments themselves. However, the
teacher and the lessons were acceptable to them. The pupils
had few ideas as to how the instruction could be carried out
differently, aside from doing more experiments on their own.
All in all, their main message was the high irrelevancy of
chemistry education aside from allowing them to pass their
exams:
S:. "In my opinion, we learn because that's what the lesson
is; we could possibly learn afterwards. In all honesty: We
don't need this stuff later. It doesn't help me in later life, if I
know what an atom is."
S.: "I find that it's only important that we learn the stuff,
get good grade and afterwards nothing matters."
Within the post-discussions, both groups purported to hold
chemistry in high esteem, especially among students who
were not very high achievers. More telling than what they
actually said, however, was a large, observable change in their
behaviour when answering questions. This trend can be seen
from the following quotes to the initial question:
I.: "Why do all pupils have to learn Chemistry in school?"
S.: "Because it is a part of life. And many things are made
up of it. If pupils were denied a chance to learn chemistry,
they wouldn't have a chance to be interested in it. Because
there are many opportunities in the world of work to do
something with it. And if you never get a feel for it in
school, you don't have chance to link the knowledge with
other areas of interest, even if your job isn't chemistry-
related."
Here it became clear that students made a sharp distinction
138 | Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2010, 11, 129141
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between learning abstract chemical theory and practical
chemical knowledge that dealt with substances in everyday
life. Perhaps it wasnt clear to the students that such an open
perspective on chemistry was also the question in the pre-
discussion. However, without experiences gained outside this
lesson plan as a comparison, the students were ill-equipped to
change to this point-of-view at that time. The students did
make connections and consider the relevance of chemistry
beyond the school exams:
S.: "Things like shower gels are important for everyday life.
If you learn that musk fragrances are difficult to decompose
and it's not so important as how the molecules are built,
you don't need to know such things if you aren't going to
work in a career that has something to do with chemistry."
The utterances tended to be longer than those given before
the teaching of the unit, and the pupils were prepared to give
more open answers. They lavishly praised the teaching that
had occurred, especially singling out the learning at stations
and the well-planned structure of the lessons. Their praise
targeted mainly the learning material at the stations and the
specific forms used in carrying out the lessons. They hadn't
yet worked out anything on their own in this open form of
teaching. The topic appeared to speak personally to the
students, became relevant to them, and the students showed
interest in discovering more about it.
S: "What I now like about the topic is that we performed a
large amount of group work in various workgroups. And
the experiments had something to do with our everyday
world, since we learned about fat solubility and about
fragrances like the smell of oranges. You can make
connections to everyday life."
S.: "I also wanted to say that we are confronted with
chemicals on a daily basis, but it never becomes apparent,
as we have already said, that there are musk fragrances in
shower gels that appear in almost every cosmetic product.
And that as consumers we are never really clear what is in
a given product, if we hadn't learned it in chemistry class."
The expansion of subject matter, especially the journalistic
method of teaching, were explicitly praised by students from
Group 3 and judged by them as useful for their further lives.
They admitted learning new things about methodological
content as well as the regular subject matter (the function of
musk fragrances, the wash cycle, tenside molecules, etc.)
S.: "It was new to receive a topic and have to make a news
report about it. And even the shortened length was new.
Even in a presentation you can't represent all the
information, but you have more time. And putting the most
important information into a nutshell while maintaining the
specific information about the topic: That was really
interesting."
S.: "Yes, I think that was preparation for later life. Later
we will also have to work in various groups and they not
necessarily have to be made up of our friends. Then we
were supposed to produce this news report. We will also
have to give reports in later our later lives. Our news
reports weren't just based on chemistry, they were meant
for general skills."
Group 4 showed similar tendencies, although they preferred
This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010
 View Article Online

shorter answers and couldn't express themselves in as varied a Conclusions and implications
manner to the questions. The pupils had difficulties describing
This case study describes a lesson plan focussing on the
what was "interesting" for them in a clear way, even though
chemistry of shower gels, including reflection on the use of
the topic definitely was clearly attractive to them.
artificial musk fragrances in cosmetics. The lessons follow the
S.: "I found it interesting and when that is the case I have
socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to chemistry
more fun and try harder."
teaching. After evaluating the lesson plan in four learning
I.: "And what interested you?"
groups, this case study demonstrated the chosen approach to
S.: "Somehow it wasn't as boring as our regular lessons.
be very feasible and motivating for pupils. Intense discussions
Normally the teacher stands up front and we sit here, raise
about the socio-scientific issue of evaluating products,
our hands and any questions are clarified. Now we can do
including their potential ecological and sanitary effects, were
that alone and the teacher only comes around every once in
observed. This study supports previous evidence gathered by
a while."
experiments following the same approach, as reported in Eilks
S.: "That fact is that the topic is relevant for all of us
(2002a) or Marks et al. (2008).
because we all use shower gels."
Teachers feedback was collected. Students views were
Students from Group 3 were able to analyse the viewpoints
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monitored through questionnaires, classroom observations and

of the news ticker very well and reflect upon them. The
group discussions. The pupils opinions support the teachers
students showed critical opinions when dealing with press
views. All groups described a highly-motivating, student-
releases. There were many pupils who expressed themselves
active atmosphere for learning. The teaching methods proved
similarly to the following student's statement:
to be attractive, stimulating and motivating, especially lab-
S.: "It was approximately the same stuff, but with four
work using the learning-at-stations method, and the
different pools of background knowledge, and it became
introduction of the newly-developed journalist method. From
apparent how you can put a spin on the news. When you
the teachers viewpoint, the lesson plan appeared to promote
can change information that is the same in each case so
students skills in discussing and evaluating controversial,
that they all become different. ... You see it in press
chemistry-related issues taken from everyday life. The
releases. When cosmetics companies develop new products,
observations and reflections showed that such processes were
only the advantages are named and not the drawbacks. If
intensively initiated by the students. Thus, the lesson plan was
disadvantages are mentioned, they come at the end and
successful in promoting students competency to
only if it is claimed that they have been overcome."
communicate about science itself. This supports the
In both the learning groups, pupils formulated their own
supposition that an ability to communicate scientific ideas
positions on the problematic of musk fragrances. The complex
effectively to others will only develop if students are
questions were revisited yet again and an emphasis laid, that
intrinsically driven to start discussing science-related issues.
there are no simple solutions to the problem. Many aspects
These considerations match the views obtained from the
were elucidated:
students answers to some items on the Likert-type
Raising taxes on particular, environmentally unfriendly
questionnaire, in the open questionnaire and in the group
products could make sense in certain situations.
discussion. These results also support the conclusions of
Lawmakers must provide better testing of products and
similar lesson plans in Eilks (2002a) or Marks et al. (2008).
protect consumers.
Additionally, some careful interpretation of the group
Advantages and drawbacks of a mandatory declaration of
discussions suggests that changes in the attitudes and opinions
product content were discussed.
of some students occurred, although analysing such group
We must invest more in research and/or provide more
discussions is a difficult task (Albe, 2008). However, the
incentives for research.
intense interpersonal discussions indicate that pupils of this
The role of the individual citizen for taking steps was
age see such controversial topics from their direct personal
critically evaluated again and again.
environment as interesting and relevant. The same phenomena
S.: "People won't change their consumer behaviour just
were even observable in the unmotivated and relatively low-
because they get new information or see a film. It is the
achieving comprehensive school class. Experience with this
same with environmental pollution or the carbon dioxide
lesson plan therefore supports the hypothesis that involving
emissions from cars. Everyone knows that it is harmful and
students in authentic and controversial debates on socio-
everyone drives anyway. Or the people who own cars drive
scientific issues evidences great potential for promoting their
them because they simply don't care. And they think that
interest in science education (Osborne et al., 1998; Holbrook,
everyone else is doing it anyway, so why should they
1998; Marks and Eilks, 2009), and their argumentation and
abstain?
communication skills (Osborne et al., 2004).
It was very obvious that the pupils remembered a large
Taking different examples of teaching chemistry using the
number of details (for example, the cost of water treatment,
socio-critical and problem-oriented approach in Germany (e.
ingredients, etc.), however, the relationships between them
g., Eilks, 2002a; Marks, Bertram and Eilks, 2008; Marks and
sometimes seemed difficult for them to clarify. But, this was
Eilks, 2009) reveals that the everyday-life-orientation of the
one of the reasons for selecting the topic, because it
topics is not the only factor promoting student motivation and
introduces pupils into a very controversial debate which is not
interest (see also a whole range of papers from e.g. Hofstein
easily evaluated.
and Yager, 1988 up to e.g. Sadler, 2004, or Holbrook and

This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010 Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2010, 11, 129141 | 139

Rannikmae, 2007). The authentic and controversial character
of the chosen topics also appears to make this teaching
approach so motivating. In this respect, the socio-critical,
problem-oriented approach to chemistry education seems
promising for promoting higher-order cognitive skills,
especially in the areas of evaluating topics within an STS-
framework and in reflection. At least some of the students
claimed to recognise a higher relevance of chemistry to their
lives after the lessons. But we also believe that this type of
teaching can effectively contribute to making students more
critical about the way both society and the media deal with
socio-scientific questions. In this respect, the approach has
great potential for contributing to an education through
science (Holbrook and Rannikmae, 2007). It can help prepare
students to live and participate in a modern society, which is
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based on science and technology (Elmose and Roth, 2005) in
the sense of Allgemeinbildung, as discussed above.
Notes and References
1
In Germany, the educational system is different between the 16
German states (Lnder). In most states there are different forms of
secondary schools working in parallel. Grammar schools
(Gymnasium) are for the higher achieving students and are
preparing for studies in tertiary education. Middle schools and main
schools focus more on the middle and lower achieving students and
prepare them for vocational education outside the universities. In
some states, in addition, there are comprehensive schools dealing
with the whole range of students in an integrated approach.
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