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Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry: Making chemistry

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Article in International Journal of Science Education · August 2006

DOI: 10.1080/09500690600702504

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International Journal of Science Education
Vol. 28, No. 9, 14 July 2006, pp. 1017–1039

Industrial Chemistry and School

Chemistry: Making chemistry
studies more relevant
Avi Hofstein* and Miri Kesner
The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
90avi.hofstein@weizmann.ac.il
Prof.
000002006
AviHofstein
International
10.1080/09500690600702504
TSED_A_170218.sgm
0950-0693
Original
Taylor
2006
28 and
Article
(print)/1464-5289
Francis
JournalLtd
of Science
(online)
Education

In this paper, we present the development and implementation over the period of more than
15 years of learning materials focusing on industrial chemistry as the main theme. The work was
conducted in the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
The project’s general goal was to teach chemistry concepts in the context of industrial chemistry in
order to present chemistry as a relevant topic both to the students personally as well as to the soci-
ety in which they live. The learning materials that were developed during this period were in align-
ment with the changes and reforms that were conducted in the Israeli educational system. These
developments were accompanied with intensive and comprehensive professional development
courses and workshops. In addition, several research and evaluation projects were conducted with
the goal to assess students’ achievements and to probe into the students’ perceptions regarding the
classroom learning environment and the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the various
instructional and learning materials techniques that were implemented in the programme through-
out these years. This paper is structured attempting to describe the curricular cycle in alignment
with Goodlad’s and Van den Akker’s curriculum representations.

Introduction
In an era of reform in science education both the content and pedagogy of science
learning are being scrutinized, and new standards intended to shape meaningful,
authentic, relevant, and contextualized science education are emerging. For exam-
ple, the new standards in science education (National Research Council, 1996)
suggest that the goals for school science are to educate students who experience the
richness and excitement of knowing and understanding the natural world and
engage intelligently in public discourse regarding debate matters of scientific and

*Corresponding author. The Department of Science Teaching, The Weizmann Institute of

Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Email: avi.hofstein@weizmann.ac.il

ISSN 0950-0693 (print)/ISSN 1464-5289 (online)/06/091017–23

© 2006 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09500690600702504
1018 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

technological concerns. It was suggested that chemistry should be taught not only to
prepare students for an academic career in chemistry, but also to help them become
informed citizens in today’s society (Ware, 2001). These future citizens will eventu-
ally appreciate how science and technology contribute to their daily life as well as to
the society in which they live.
Modern society is highly influenced by scientific advances and its accompanying
technological ramifications. Consequently, in order to educate the future citizens,
chemistry should be taught with appropriate emphasis on relevance to everyday life
and its role in industry, technology, and society. However, most of the science
curricula developed during the 1960s omitted societal and technological applications
of the scientific concepts. Science was taught as a means of advancing knowledge
and explanations, and not as means for improving society (Hofstein & Yager, 1982).
Following a general international trend (Ware, 2001), in the Israeli educational
system many students found their chemistry studies boring and non-relevant, and
therefore the enrolment of students in chemistry studies either in high school or in
higher education decreased significantly (Milner, Ben-Zvi, & Hofstein, 1987).
Moreover, the general public and the media tend to overemphasize the negative
image and the hazardous aspects of chemistry. This approach neglects the positive
contribution of industrial chemistry to society by producing useful materials and effi-
cient technologies to serve individuals as well as the society.
Teaching chemistry without incorporating aspects of the chemical industry
ignores one of the most important features of modern life and its technological
achievements. In addition, chemistry studies also have an important role in educat-
ing future citizens to cope objectively with societal and ethical issues in general, and
environmental implications in particular. Therefore, the emphasis of the chemistry
curriculum needs to change from the approach of focusing on the structure of the
discipline (focusing only on theories, key concepts, and processes) to a multidimen-
sional approach, in which students are provided with the appropriate tools in order
to obtain a balanced view of industrial issues and to educate them to evaluate objec-
tively such information. Kempa (1983), for example, suggested that future develop-
ments of teaching and learning chemistry (as well as the development of learning
materials) should include the following interrelated six dimensions:
● The conceptual structure of chemistry.
● The process of chemistry.
● The technological manifestations of chemistry.
● Chemistry as a “personally relevant” subject.
● The cultural aspects of chemistry.
● The societal implications of chemistry.
We believe that these dimensions can be implemented by introducing industrial
contexts into the chemistry curriculum using industrial case studies or other related
forms of learning and teaching materials. The different industrial chemistry learning
materials as well as instructional techniques developed in Israel in high-school chem-
istry have thus attempted to place greater emphasis on applied chemistry; teaching
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1019

takes place in its industrial socio-economic and environmental contexts. This is in

alignment with the idea that students are more motivated to study subject matter
that they find more relevant to their lives and to the society in which they live than if
it appears “remote” (Barker & Millar, 1999; Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Byrne &
Johnstone, 1988; Holbrook, 2005; Kesner, 1999; Yager & Hofstein, 1986). We
believe that industrial contexts that include issues related to health, environment,
and products used in daily life have the potential to enhance their interest and moti-
vation to study chemistry. Such context-based developments in high-school chemis-
try can be found in various countries such as the United Kingdom (Bennett &
Lubben, 2006; Campbell et al., 1994), South Africa (Brand, Gerrans, McCarogher,
& Pool, 1991), and Ireland (Childs & Walsh, 1989). For more and similar examples
of such developments, see Isuyama and Mapletoft (1996).
The implementation of such ambitious goals developing Industrial Chemistry as a
context-based curriculum requires combined efforts from both teachers and curricu-
lum developers. Teachers should be provided with tools (teaching materials and
pedagogical interventions) that will help them not only in coping with the subject
matter, but also in decision-making regarding the pedagogy of teaching and learning
science. In this paper we suggest (and demonstrate) that development and imple-
mentation of industrial chemistry learning materials and its related pedagogical
interventions in chemistry studies are an important component in our attempt to
attain these goals in the area of teaching and learning chemistry. In this paper
we describe the curricular process that took place in the Department of Science
Teaching at The Weizmann Institute of Science over a period of more than 15 years.
Figure 1 is a graphical presentation of the various steps that the project underwent
throughout these years.
Figure 1. Time line of the Industrial Chemistry project (four phases)

Figure 1. Time line of the Industrial Chemistry project (four phases)

1020 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

The components of the curricular cycle originally suggested by Tamir (1985),

including development, implementation, and evaluation of science curricula, are
described in alignment with Goodlad’s (1979) and Van den Akker’s (1998) curricu-
lum representations that include the following components:
● The Ideal Curriculum: the rationale for the development of Industrial Chemistry.
● The Formal Curriculum: the design principles, which we will illustrate for the
design of one case study about “Bromine and its compound” (as an example), for
the design of industrial visits, and for the development of an Internet site.
● The Perceived Curriculum: we describe some aspects of the teachers’ professional
development, considering the teachers’ initial background.
● The Operational Curriculum: the instructional techniques and learning materials
used to teach Industrial Chemistry, the effectiveness of professional development
for implementation, and some exemplary results of the implementation of the
industrial visits and the Internet site.
● The Experiential and Attained Curriculum: research studies that provide us with
evidence how students have perceived the classroom learning environment, how
students regarded the industrial visits, and the educational effectiveness of the
Internet site. For each of these aspects we discuss how the curricular goals haven
been attained by the students.
We present this dynamic and continuous process as the close cooperation of four
“partners”: the industry personnel, the teachers, the Ministry of Education (who are
responsible for the syllabus), and the programme developers. In addition, we claim
that it could be accomplished only in an institution that integrates all the relevant
curricular components under the same roof and by the same curriculum develop-
ment group.

Ideal Curriculum: Rationale for the development of the curriculum about

Industrial Chemistry
In Israel since the early 1980s, several attempts have been made to introduce
Industrial Chemistry contexts into the chemistry curriculum (Figure 1). The early
attempts (1980–1989) are summarized in a series of studies that were published in
the literature by Nae, Hofstein, and Samuel (1982) and by Hofstein (1985). The
learning materials that were developed during this period provided an overview
regarding the chemical industry in Israel. On the other hand, the new generation of
learning materials (after 1989) were written as case studies. The case study provides
an in-depth approach regarding a certain industrial plant. Each case study includes
several facets (and components) of the industrial contexts. These industrial case
studies were developed together with instructional techniques and pedagogical inter-
ventions. It should be noted, that each student learned one of the case studies. More
information about these developments could be found in Kesner, Hofstein, and
Ben-Zvi (1997a, b) and in Hofstein and Kesner (1996). The case study approach
enabled us to incorporate and integrate many of the features that are involved in the
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1021

production processes in the chemistry plant. It also provides us with the opportunity
to describe the contexts of real situations and actual problems that exist in the chem-
ical industry, as well as topics related to the use of its products. Our approach was to
develop a series of case studies that are based on the contexts of local chemical
industries on the one hand, and relate these to the concepts of the chemistry curric-
ulum (students’ conceptual background) on the other.
The goals regarding the new generation case studies were:
a. To demonstrate the application of basic chemical principles and concepts in
Industrial Chemistry.
b. To demonstrate the importance and relevance of the chemical industry to the
students personally, and to the society in which they live (and operate).
c. To develop a basic knowledge of the technological, economic, and environmen-
tal factors involved in the establishment and operation of the chemical industry.
d. To investigate some of the specific problems faced by a local chemical industry,
such as the location of an industrial plant, the supply of raw materials, labour,
ways of taking care of the environment, and its related economical aspects.
e. To present the special language used in industry regarding basic technology,
economy, and industrial processes.
f. To show the differences between a laboratory and an industrial process and the
scaling-up steps needed for industrial production design.
g. To demonstrate the dynamic nature of industry (i.e., changes that chemical
industries undergo continuously).
h. To provide information regarding economical, environmental, and technologi-
cal problems that face the chemical industry.
i. To show the connection between the chemical industry and social and political
issues (environmental issues and debates, including moral and ethical dilemmas).
It was assumed that by attaining these goals we shall provide Israeli students with a
more comprehensive view regarding the importance of Industrial Chemistry, and
present chemistry in a more relevant and applied context. Thus, it was assumed that
will motivate them to study chemistry and will create a learning environment in
which varied instructional techniques could be implemented.

Formal Curriculum: Design principles for the curriculum about

Industrial Chemistry
Two case studies were developed (Kesner et al., 1997a): one about the “Bromine
and its compounds”, and the other focusing on “Chemical fertilisers”. These
contexts are taught as part of the chemistry curriculum in the 12th grade (age 17–
18). The case studies cover about 20% of the total chemistry curriculum developed
for those students who opted to specialize in chemistry in the upper-secondary level
of high school in the Israeli educational system. For about a period of 10 years
(1992–2003) all students who majored in chemistry in Israel were obligated to study
at least one industrial case study as an integral part of the matriculation examination
1022 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

(the final national examination set centrally by the Israeli Ministry of Education).
This approach is aligned with the definition made by Wandersee and Roach (1997)
who recommend to include units based on contexts as a substitute for conventional
treatment of content.
The development of the new generation of case studies comprised two stages. In
the first stage, during the late 1980s (see Figure 1), the case studies focused mainly
on scientific concepts and its related technological aspects; while in the second
version (in the late 1990s; see Figure 1) more emphasis was given to related envi-
ronmental issues. This is based on changes that were made by the Israeli govern-
ment, who decided to implement new environmental standards and regulations. As
a result, the chemistry industries opened their gates to society in general, and to
schools in particular, with the goal in mind to be more sensitive to environmental
issues. It was assumed that presenting these issues in the case studies will provide
students with a balanced view of industry. The updated case studies emphasize the
development of the student as an independent thinker and confront them with
genuine and relevant issues and problems. In addition, they incorporate the peda-
gogical strategies that were developed during the dynamic implementation of the
first generation of these case studies. For example, the students are asked to cope
with environmental dilemmas (e.g., using public debates) and to think about advan-
tages and disadvantages concerning issues such as the use of products, location of
the industrial plant, industrial processes, construction materials, and separation
techniques. They have to think about the pros and cons of certain issues, to suggest
solutions or to choose a compromised solution based on scientific data. Some of the
activities are based on group work (collaboration) in order to encourage the
students to conduct collaborative discussions, compare different solutions, and eval-
uate information.
Tentatively, for the new generation of case studies, the following criteria have been
applied in the selection of industrial plants to develop the industrial case studies:

1. The chemical industry has local importance and is based on local raw materials.
2. Students should be able to understand and apply the key chemical concepts that
underline the process of a particular industry. These key chemical concepts
should be based on the students’ prior chemistry knowledge.
3. These industrial processes and concepts included in the case studies could be
applied to technological, economical, environmental, and societal issues.
4. The case study provides opportunities to vary the classroom learning environ-
ment by implementing different instructional techniques and pedagogical inter-
ventions.
5. The case study has the potential to place students in the centre of learning and
construct their knowledge either individually or in small collaborative groups.
6. The industry is willing to cooperate, both in the developmental stage, as well as
in the various implementation stages (e.g., to provide relevant background infor-
mation, take part in the teachers’ in-service training courses, and support and
encourage field trips).
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1023

7. Teachers will be actively involved (at least partially) in the various stages of the
developmental process. These were mainly related to the development of teach-
ing strategies and pedagogical interventions that could be readily implemented
in the classroom. It is assumed that this approach (and procedure) has potential
to increase the teachers’ feeling of ownership (more details about this issue can
be find in the section dealing with the implementation of industrial chemistry;
i.e., the perceived curriculum).
The various components of the second version of the new generation of case studies
are presented (and detailed) in Table 1.
For the description of the developmental process of the formal curriculum, we will
show how these criteria have been integrated and implemented within the case study
about “Bromine and its compounds”, in the instructional design of “industrial

Table 1. Topics and concepts included in the updated second-generation case studies

Chemical concepts Chemical properties

Reaction: reactants and products and conditions
Bonding and structure
Solvents and solutions
Oxidation–reduction
Acids–bases
Stochiometry
Equilibrium
Thermochemistry
Thermodynamics
Free energy
Kinetics
Catalysts
Technological aspects Industrial processes
Scaling up
Pilot plant
Operation units
Construction material
Batch or continuous
Flow chart
Separation techniques
Production facilities
Conversion and yield
Energy resources
Energy saving
Storage techniques
Transportation facilities
Ecological aspects Green chemistry
Hazards and risks
Toxicity
Toxic wastes
1024 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Table 1. (continued)

Treatment of wastes
Disposal of wastes
Accident prevention
Environmental issues
Safety rules
Safe transportation
Recycling
Recovery
Air pollution
Water pollution
Earth contamination
Safety equipment
Safe storage
Purity of raw materials and products
Other aspects (societal) Location of plant
Economical aspects (profitability, supply and
demand, production costs etc.)
Manpower considerations
Licensing
Patents
Quality control
Total quality management
Marketing and sales
Political aspects

visits” and in the instructional design of the “Internet site”. Note that this is only an
example and that similar educational approach is used to all the case studies that
were developed.

Case Study: Bromine and its compounds

An example of such a case study is the story of “Bromine and its compounds”
(Kesner et al., 1997a).1 This is based on the production of bromine and its related
compounds (such as methyl-bromide, calcium bromide, potassium bromate, and
ammonium bromide) using the Dead Sea brines as the basic raw material. The Dead
Sea is the lowest salt lake in the world and its salt concentration is about 6 M. The
combination of its location, high air temperature, and the relatively high concentra-
tion of bromine ions have influenced the development of this industry, which is both
unique and important for the Israeli situation (Criterion 1). Among the products are
flame-retardants, pesticides, raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry, and
many other important chemicals (about 60 different chemical products).
Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of the overall approach of the case
study that was developed.
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1025

Figure 2. Overview of the case study about “Bromine and its compounds”

As shown in Figure 2, an interdisciplinary approach was used. This includes the

Figure 2. Overview of the case study about “Bromine and its compounds”

underlying chemistry topics and concepts related to the industrial processes, the
related technological, societal, economic, and environmental issues, and their inter-
relationships (Criteria 2 and 3). All these efforts were conducted in an attempt to
involve the students in learning experiences that will eventually enhance their
perceptions that chemistry is not only pure but also relevant and applied (Criteria 4
and 5). Figure 3 illustrates the general instructional framework of the case studies.
One of the key elements of teaching about industrial chemistry is to provide the
Figure 3. The instructional framework used for the industrial case studies

students with opportunities to experience the industrial environment directly. In

order to accomplish this goal, two strategies were developed. The first is an indus-
trial visit: an educational field trip to the chemical industry in which we bring the
student to the industry (Nae, Hofstein, Mandler, & Samuel, 1982). The second,
1026 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Figure 3. The instructional framework used for the industrial case studies

developed more recently (Frailich, Kesner, & Hofstein, 2006; Kesner, Frailich, &
Hofstein, 2003), is an Internet site designed to provide students and teachers with
varied-type curriculum-based learning materials related to chemistry concepts and
issues (databases) and learning experiences (activities) in to the context of chemical
industry and daily life applications. This in fact is the approach in which we bring
the industry to the classroom. It should be noted that both the industrial visits as
well as the Internet site relate to general aspects of chemical industry that are
included in the two case studies mentioned earlier, and also to other industrial
chemical plants. This comprehensive approach enabled teachers to provide informa-
tion on various industrial issues in various locations in the country.

Instructional Design of Industrial Visits to Chemical Plants

Field trips are known to be very important and motivating for students in cases in
which the actual phenomena or environment is needed to present an abstract concept
or an unknown situation (Nae et al., 1982; Orion & Hofstein, 1994). However, this
is true only if the field trip is set up properly, with the necessary learning materials
and when an appropriate pedagogical approach is used. Based on our past experience
(during the 1980s) it was clear that without proper pre-visit preparation the visit
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1027

could be educationally ineffective and a waste of time (Orion, 1993). The issue is
how to make the visit educationally effective, relevant, and meaningful. Orion, and
Orion and Hofstein, for example, stated that the main role of field trips (outdoor
educational activities) is the direct experience with concrete phenomena and materi-
als. They developed an instructional model that consists of three phases, which we
adapted for our purpose:
1. the pre-visit phase to equip the students with the necessary information needed
for an educationally effective visit;
2. the actual visit to the industrial plant; and
3. the post-visit (summary) phase in which a discussion regarding the students’
experiences was conducted in the classroom.
It was found (Orion & Hofstein, 1994) that in cases that strictly followed the
suggested instructional model, students demonstrated a significant improvement in
their knowledge and attitudes compared with students from classes that followed a
non-structured approach. To make this model adequate for industrial visits, we
involved the industrial personnel in the planning of the field trips and in the process
of preparing manuals for these visits (Criterion 6). Teachers underwent professional
development procedures including gaining scientific and technological background
about the industrial plant, as well as methods to prepare their students for such visits
(Criterion 7).
During the visits to chemical industries the students are involved in various activi-
ties, usually performed in small groups (Criterion 5; e.g., working on work-sheets on
specific questions and small group inquiry tasks). At some of the industrial sites they
can obtain additional information regarding these tasks from the industry personnel
(e.g., laboratory and engineering personnel). At some of the industrial sites, students
perform chemical analyses and test-tube experiments that simulate the industrial
process. Their findings and observations are recorded and are later used for the post-
visit discussions and deliberations.
Although important and educationally effective, very often teachers who plan
and conduct such events face many logistical problems. Among these problems
are the communication with industry, transportation costs, school schedule, and
safety regulations. In an attempt to overcome all these problems a link centre was
established at the Weizmann Institute of Science: the Israeli Chemical Industry–
Education Link Centre (ICIELC). This centre is directly responsible for providing
information, background materials, ideas for school visits in industries, and many
other initiatives that are intended to strengthen the link between the educational
system and chemical industries in the country (Criterion 6). This centre helped
teachers to communicate with industries and provided support to overcome some of
the logistical problems (Hofstein & Kesner, 1996).
In order to provide teachers and students with effective alternatives (in cases in
which field trips were not accessible) we developed several vicarious alternatives
such as films, overhead transparencies, and, more recently, an Internet site on which
we shall now elaborate.
1028 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Instructional Design of the Internet Site

The Internet site “General Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry for the Service of
Mankind” (http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il/g-chem/learnchem) was developed for the
use of all chemistry teachers and students in Israel (Frailich et al., 2006; Kesner
et al., 2003). The Internet site was constructed to complement and enrich the
teaching materials with the industrial context of chemistry and relevant daily life
implications (attempting to attain Goals a–c and e–I in the earlier list of goals in the
Ideal Curriculum section), as well as to encourage integrating Information and
Communications Technologies (ICT) into chemistry studies (Abad, 1999). By
doing so, the site can serves as a source of information as well as a source for class-
room and laboratory activities, and can enable students to enhance their investiga-
tive and thought process skills (Goal d). The site is accessible to all and is intended
to serve all Grade 10–12 (age 15–18) students who study chemistry in Israel.
The site was constructed so that it will be dynamic, appealing, and captivating,
up-to-date, user-friendly, applicable to diverse types of students, interactive by
involving the students in the learning process, and based on ICT principles. It
was constructed so that the chemistry teachers will have maximum flexibility in
choosing the activities that will be aligned with their teaching style and, in addi-
tion, will be suitable to the cognitive ability, learning style, and motivational
pattern of their students. Students who are studying a specific topic included in
the chemistry curriculum can enrich their knowledge by working on a certain
activity in the site. While acting on the site, students are encouraged to seek, eval-
uate, and synthesize information about an issue, concept or a topic. All these are
designed to attain the goal (Goal b) that students should be able to understand
and apply the key chemical concepts that underline the process of a particular
industry. These key chemical concepts should be based on the students’ prior
chemistry knowledge.

Perceived Curriculum: Implementation of Industrial Chemistry

According to Van den Akker (1998), previous curricular efforts conducted in the
1960s were only partially successful in attaining the goals of reform. He suggest that
there is a vital need to achieve a correspondence between curricular goals and guide-
lines, learning materials and curricular frameworks, implementation, as well as the
approaches and emphasis on assessing and evaluating students’ learning of science.
Teaching Industrial Chemistry based on the goals described is very demanding, as
well as a challenging task regarding the contents, the pedagogy, and its associated
assessment methods. In Israel, as in many other nations, traditional training of
chemistry teachers at the universities or teacher training colleges hardly touches
upon the applications of chemistry in general, and the Industrial Chemistry ideas and
issues. Even in the rare cases when teachers have an appropriate background, up-to-
date information on Industrial Chemistry is not readily available (Kesner et al.,
1997a.). For this reason, many teachers did not feel competent to handle the many
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1029

facets that such an interdisciplinary programme embraces. In addition, most teachers

regarded their major task as to provide knowledge in the cognitive domain; namely,
teaching chemistry topics and concepts in order to prepare their students for final
examinations in which most of the questions were related to the key chemistry
concepts that are taught. In other words, the implementation of Industrial Chemistry
requires the development of the teachers’ content knowledge as well as their peda-
gogical content knowledge (PCK) (Gess-Newsome, 1999; Shulman, 1986) in the
area of industrial chemistry.
These facts necessitated the need to accompany the new programmes and devel-
opments with intensive and comprehensive in-service professional development of
the chemistry teachers. One of the methods that were used to reduce teachers’ anxi-
ety regarding the teaching of industrial topics was to involve some of them in what is
referred to as leadership-type professional development initiatives. To this end, we
invited a group of seven exemplary high-school chemistry teachers, who were
selected on the basis of our knowledge of their motivation to introduce changes in
the way chemistry is taught and who were known as creative. These teachers partici-
pated in an intensive 1-year workshop. (For more details, see Kesner et al., 1997a.)
In the workshop these teachers were involved in the following activities:
● Formulating goals and objectives for teaching a certain industrial topic, and
discussing strategies to attain such goals in the chemistry classroom.
● Trying these strategies in their own classes, thus providing feedback regarding the
effectiveness of the teaching approach, as well as revealing any difficulties that
they had experienced.
● Further development of small-scale teaching and learning assignments to be used
as remedies for the teaching and learning difficulties that they have experienced.
● Providing help and support in the creation and development of a teachers’ guide.
● Constructing a model for other (further) workshops (scaling-up) aimed at those
teachers throughout the country who adopted the programme.
Also, when developing the Internet site, we involved leading chemistry teachers in
the process of design so that the activities will be aligned with chemistry teachers’
needs and teaching styles. This was conducted in two annual workshops (112 hours
each) in which these teachers were involved in the definition of the rationale and
goals for such a site, its scope, and the curricular content. The workshops consisted
of discussions regarding the structure of the site and its related objectives; group
work on developing small teaching units and tasks with a focus on the use of accessi-
ble web materials such as free applets, and chemistry database resources; presenta-
tion of products; suggestions regarding the appropriate pedagogy; and preliminary
trials, feedback, and stages of improvement.
Involving teachers in this procedure is a process fondly called a bottom–up
approach (as opposed to top–down) aiming at increasing the teachers ownership,
thus reducing the teachers’ anxiety regarding the adaptation of unfamiliar content,
new materials, and new pedagogical approaches. In addition, it is assumed that
teachers bring their rich experience regarding instructional ideas and their profes-
1030 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

sional needs. Thus, together with the curriculum developers, teachers have a signifi-
cant impact in the development and implementation of the teaching materials.
The whole process of implementing the various industrial case studies and its
related learning and teaching materials in more schools (all over the country)
included providing teachers with intensive summer courses and continuous support
during the school year. Thus, throughout a period of about 15 years of implementa-
tion processes, many teachers were involved in professional development initiatives
in which they obtained appropriate content and pedagogical background, and, more
recently, also information regarding computer-based technological skills (ICT).
Evaluation of our professional development initiatives were conducted as part of
the implementation procedures (Kesner et al., 1997a). The research was done using
pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires and interviews that provided back-
ground information about the teachers (n = 150), as well as about their problems
and feelings regarding teaching the subject of industry and their expectations from
these professional development courses. Interestingly, we found that about 66% of
the teachers did not take any university course on chemical industry and about 33%
of the teacher population did not even visit any chemistry plant during their studies.
When asked about their feelings regarding teaching the subject of industry, in the
setting of high-school chemistry, the teachers claimed (for example):
We feel insecure because we have no background in this field.
It is hard to teach about industry.
We are afraid that it will be boring for the students.
It demands a completely different way of thinking.

These claims confirm that the chemistry teachers had rather a limited background
(owing to their university training) to cope with this unique interdisciplinary-type
topic. These findings were in fact a call to conduct short intensive courses for large
populations of chemistry teachers during the first years in which the implementation
of the case studies took place.

Operational Curriculum: Teaching Industrial Chemistry

Teaching the Case Studies
It is assumed that instructional strategies should be tailored to the abilities and apti-
tudes of the learners (Hofstein & Kempa, 1985; Hofstein & Walberg, 1995) to maxi-
mize the effectiveness of teaching and the resulting learning process. Hofstein and
Kempa wrote that:
Most of our science teaching has to take place in heterogeneous classes and thus we face
the task of having to cater for a variety of student needs and different motivations
towards learning science. This calls for the use of a variety of instructional procedures
and techniques on the part of the teachers so that the needs and motivational aspira-
tions of many different types of student can be satisfied. (1995, p. 228)
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1031

This was, in fact, a call for varying the instructional techniques utilized in the chem-
istry course in Israel in general, and in the industrial programme in particular.
Therefore, in the Operational Curriculum, we planned to provide students and
teachers with an effective and diverse classroom learning environment that will
enable students to interact physically and intellectually with instructional materials
through hands-on experiences and through minds-on and inquiry-oriented activities
(Criterion 4).
Several instructional strategies and pedagogical interventions have been developed
in order to increase the students’ involvement in the learning process and their inter-
est in chemistry in general, and in their chemistry studies in particular (Criterion 5).
These include laboratory investigations based on real problems originating from
industrial case studies and everyday topics, activities that simulate real industrial
situations, mini-projects, classroom debates on controversial issues, discussion about
information allocated from the written and visual media, field trips, and, more
recently, the Internet site. The Internet site provides relevant and up-to-date infor-
mation on industries, products, and other background information to help students
in performing small-scale research projects.
Teachers who underwent intensive professional development (in the workshops,
see section on Perceived Curriculum) were asked to implement (during the teaching
of the industrial case studies) at least five different instructional strategies—and not
to use solely traditional text-book based teaching approach (Kesner et al., 1997a).
Information about teachers’ operations was obtained through qualitative-type
assessment procedures (namely, interviews, observations, and self-reports). Based
on the findings from these assessment methods it was apparent that they made a
great effort to provide students with activities and assignments that will put them in
the centre of learning, as opposed to the other group (those students whose teachers
did not participate in the intensive workshops) in which it was clear that in most
cases the teachers were in the centre of the classroom interactions. These findings
have implications regarding the development of future professional chemistry teach-
ers in the area of applied chemistry and its related industrial topics. In other words,
there is a need to put greater emphasis on effective teaching strategies and varied-
type learning methods to be implemented in the teachers’ professional development
initiatives. All these were developed at the ICIELC.
In general, teachers have the freedom to select for their classes the case studies as
well as those activities that are more aligned with the nature and location of the
school, students’ interests and abilities, and his/her personal teaching preferences. It
was found that many teachers chose to take their students to industrial visits (about
50%, n = 3,500 of the students’ population who opted to study chemistry). Also,
we observed that in many classes the teachers varied the classroom learning envi-
ronment by using popular (or semi-popular) articles that are related to industrial
chemistry and other aspects of applied chemistry. In locations in Israel in which
there are environmental problems, teachers conducted debates in which students
had opportunity for role-playing (e.g., the industry, environment, chemists, and
citizens).
1032 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Integrating the Internet Site

As mentioned earlier, the Internet site was constructed so that the chemistry teach-
ers will have maximum flexibility to choose activities that are aligned with their
teaching style and in addition will be suitable for their students. To illustrate the idea
of “flexible implementation”, we describe how two teachers (Teacher M and
Teacher S) integrated the Internet site in their 10th-grade classroom.
Teacher M came to the course with little experience regarding teaching chemistry
in a technologically rich learning environment. However, she was highly motivated
and enthusiastic about the idea of trying the new instructional technique in her
chemistry classroom. Her headmaster provided her with technical support and
encouraged her efforts to use the site. We observed her behaviour in the classroom,
and it is clear that she makes a big effort to create an effective learning environment.
More specifically, she had clear goals that she wants to attain, she provided constant
guidance to her students in this student-centred learning, and she prepared clear and
valid worksheets for her students. Moreover, it was clear that she followed the guide-
lines that she obtained from the site developers, and she implemented the activities
and experiences in which she was involved in the summer workshop. We observed
that Teacher M underwent a pronounced professional change and thus her attitude
and confident in using the computer as a communication device in general, and
Internet as a teaching tool in particular, increased significantly.
Teacher S came to the summer workshop with a lot of uncertainty regarding the
use of an Internet site in the chemistry classroom. She had many reservations and
questions regarding the effectiveness of this instructional technique. However, after
the summer workshop her confidence increased and she thought that the Internet
could help her in increasing the students’ motivation to learn chemistry in general,
and to enrol in more advanced courses in chemistry in particular. Our observation of
Teacher S showed that she was using the site as a basis and a starting point for her
teaching, in contrast to Teacher M who was using the site just as she was instructed
by the developers; Teacher S elaborated, and developed more activities for her
science-oriented class. All the teaching of 10th-grade chemistry was conducted in
the computer laboratory, since she had a highly motivated class with a majority of
computer-literate students. Moreover, her students reported their homework on the
computer (using email) and she provided them with feedback electronically. In addi-
tion, she encouraged her students to use the Internet also at home in order to extend
their chemistry knowledge regarding issues that were discussed in class. She used the
site with a lot of flexibility, including inserting more activities and ideas. She
reported that the teaching style that she had adopted enhanced and improved her
communication and interaction with her students. Thus, we believe it had a positive
impact on her classroom learning environment. Recently she decided to involve her
students’ parents in the activities with the goal in mind of improving the home learn-
ing environment and gaining the parents’ support for her students.
Each of the two teachers implemented the site according to their own teaching
style and to their students’ interest and abilities. Teacher M implemented the site as
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1033

it was, without making changes or inserting additional items, whereas Teacher S

used the site as a vehicle for reforming the way she taught chemistry and for the
purpose of improving her communication skills in the chemistry classroom.

Experiential Curriculum: Evaluation and assessment of

Industrial Chemistry
The development and implementation initiatives of Industrial Chemistry context
were accompanied by both formative and summative assessment procedures. These
studies were conducted with the goal in mind to obtain feedback both from teachers
and students regarding the educational effectiveness of the materials and the instruc-
tional techniques that were developed and implemented. In this paper we present
our findings concerning the three major issues: the students’ attitudes and percep-
tions of the classroom environment, the students’ views regarding industrial visits,
and the educational effectiveness of the Internet site.

Studies Focused on the Students’ Attitudes and Perceptions of the Classroom

Learning Environment
Several studies (e.g., Hofstein, Kesner, & Ben Zvi, 2000; Kesner et al., 1997b) were
conducted with 12th-grade students, focusing on the issue of how learning Industrial
Chemistry case studies affected students’ perceptions of their chemistry classroom
learning environment and their interest in chemistry studies. Information on the
students’ perceptions was obtained from a learning environment inventory specifi-
cally developed for this study. The measure was developed in order to probe into
students’ perceptions regarding their classroom learning environment. Based on a
comparative study in which a group of students who studied Industrial Chemistry (n
= 222) was compared with a control group of students who got no exposure to
industrial ideas (n = 192), it was found that studying industrial case studies helped
in providing students with a relevant and applied picture of chemistry in general, and
their chemistry studies in particular (see Goal a listed earlier). It was also found that
students who learned Industrial Chemistry in classes in which the teachers under-
went intensive workshops (focusing on varied-type teaching and learning techniques
focusing on the teachers development of PCK) developed a better awareness of the
social implications of chemistry studies, and that chemistry provides a significant
contribution to their preparation as future citizens and for possible careers in chem-
istry (compared with student populations who studied Industrial Chemistry in
classes in which the teachers experienced only rather short in-service training
courses) (see Goals b and i).
Comparisons conducted on the perceptions of boys and girls revealed no signifi-
cant gender differences. This finding indicates that learning about industrial chemis-
try appeals equally to both boys and girls. This is despite the fact that industrial
chemistry case studies include a substantial amount of technological applications,
which are usually considered to be less appealing to girls (see Goals c, e, and f).
1034 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Students’ Views Regarding Industrial Visits

Formal and non-formal information was gathered from teachers and students (using
written feedback-type questionnaires and personal face-to-face interviews) regarding
their perceptions and feelings resulting from the industrial field trips in which they
were involved. Each year about 3,000 students (and 100 teachers) participated in
industrial field trips. In general, students and teachers reacted positively to visits to
industrial chemistry plants. As a result of the visits, students’ studies in class were
more meaningful and connected to daily life. The field trip helped them to better
understand industrial processes and considerations and motivated them to learn
about industrial chemistry (see Goals c, d, f, and h).
The visit helped us better understand industrial processes as they are carried out in
industry (as opposed to the laboratory). It made it a lot easier to understand the material.
It was interesting and important to see how things are produced and to understand the
processes themselves, from initial considerations to the complete factory.
The trip brought me closer to chemistry more than the subject matter taught in class-
room. The chemistry profession and those involved in it seem to be more interesting,
stimulating, and challenging, now I have seen them in action.

Based on a qualitative and quantitative study (Kesner, 1999) on chemistry teach-

ers’ perceptions regarding industrial visits, it was found that, on the one hand, teach-
ers generally feel that such visits are valuable and important, but on the other hand
they are difficult to organize and conduct (logistical difficulties). These findings
actually resulted in creating a support mechanism (through the ICIELC) to help
teachers in the planning and implementation of such visits. It was also found also
that more time and energy should be devoted to the planning of the visits and to its
related preparatory and concluding activities (Goal e).

Educational Effectiveness of the Web Site

Several studies (using different research tools; Kesner et al., 2003) were conducted
to determine whether integrating the Internet site enhanced students’ perceptions
regarding this issue (Frailich et al., 2006). Among the methods used were semantic
differential techniques (Osgood, Suci, & Tenenbaum, 1975) and a Likert-type tech-
nique to assess students’ perceptions regarding the classroom learning environment
and attitudes. These were both pre–post–control group design studies. The experi-
mental group consisted of 240 students, while the control group consisted of
250 students who studied the same chemistry syllabus but without exposure to the
ICT learning environment. In addition, open-ended-type questionnaires were
administered (to all the students in the two groups). Personal interviews were
held with students (n = 12) and teachers (n = 4). The first 2 years of the research
revealed that in general all chemistry students (Grades 10–12) who used the Internet
site and participated in the web-based activities during their regular studies found
their chemistry studies significantly more relevant compared with the control group
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1035

(Goal b). In general, it was found that the experimental group outperformed the
control group regarding the interest and enjoyment of chemistry studies. In addition,
it was revealed that these students found their chemistry studies more relevant to
their daily life compared with the control group. To conclude, integrating web activ-
ities that emphasize the relevance of chemistry to industry into the curriculum, and
integrating daily life applications into the regular teaching and learning of chemistry,
has the potential to contribute to students’ learning, both in the cognitive as well as
the affective domains.

New Developments: Project-based-learning, “Industrial Initiatives”

In order to illustrate how our experiences can be made effective for continuous and
dynamic curriculum development, we show how we integrated the different aspects
of Industrial Chemistry in project-based learning; entitled “Industrial Initiatives”.
Since the academic year 1999–2000 the teaching and learning of chemistry in Israel
has been reformed both regarding the content as well as in the way that chemistry is
taught (see also Figure 1). The current syllabus and its related curricular materials
(that are now in a process of development) are much more contextualized, namely
with more emphasis on relevance and applied topics. For example, in the new curric-
ulum we find topics (with a context-based chemistry approach) such as “Chemistry
and the Human Being”, “Green Chemistry”, “Chemistry and the Environment”,
“Food Chemistry”, and so on. Transfer is one of the design principles for almost all
the activities. Thus, for example, an activity based on a real accident that has happened
in a chemical plant is to be solved based on general chemistry knowledge combined
with experimental work. Dilemmas are discussed in role-playing activities with a
demand to apply varied chemistry concepts and principles. In addition, the laboratory
plays a much more important part in the experiences as well as in the assessment of
the students. As a result, new assessment standards prevail. These standards are char-
acterized by the introduction of new and alternative methods to assess the students’
achievement and progress in chemistry. For example, in the laboratory students are
assessed continuously using the portfolio approach (Hofstein, Shore, & Kipnis, 2004).
We have aligned the teaching of Industrial Chemistry with this reform, and devel-
oped “Industrial Initiatives” (Kesner, 2003)—these are mini-projects based on
industrial chemistry topics and their application to daily life. The programme is
based on five components—content, learning environments, teaching methods,
assessment methods, and students’ reflections (see Table 2)—and actually integrates
the different aspects of Industrial Chemistry we have discussed.
This programme consists mainly of laboratory investigations and web-search
activities, but can also include other activities such as a visit to an industrial site or a
role-playing debate regarding an industrial dilemma (e.g., an environmental issue,
see Table 3). The versatile programme provides teachers with the freedom to
develop their own plan and to choose or develop their own learning activities.
Following the results of the previous developments, this programme is highly
based on intensive and comprehensive professional development of teachers, since
1036 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Table 2. The components and rationale for the activities in the “Industrial Initiatives”
programme

Component Design principles

Content All the activities should be based on Industrial Chemistry

Learning environments
Teaching methods and tasks
Assessment methods
Reflection
considerations and daily life applications
Integration of varied learning environments (classroom,
outdoors, laboratory, and ICT)
Implementation of varied teaching/learning strategies and
activities (individual tasks, working in pairs, group projects, and
classroom discussions)
Using alternative ways of evaluation. Each task includes a
worksheet with the exact description of the task and an
assessment criteria sheet
Students are asked to provide feedback concerning learning
processes, attitudes, cognitive aspects, social aspects, etc.

Table 3. Examples of activities within the context of the four different learning environments

Learning environment Examples

Laboratory Experiments based on the production processes of industrial

products such as: bromine, calcium chloride, phosphoric acid,
potassium di-hydrogen phosphate
A design and production task based on the production process of
daily used products such as: apple paste, chocolate candies,
decorative candles and hand cream
Inquiry tasks on separation techniques
Inquiry tasks on the effect of flame-retardants
Investigating water quality by spectroscopy
ICT Using data bases on the web for getting relevant information
Web search activities on products used in daily life
Web Quests based on actual dilemmas (using fertilizers, yes or
no?; Plastics recycling, yes or no?)
Games followed by searching for information about commonly
used substances
Discussion forums on relevant topics
Outdoor learning activities A visit to an industrial site followed by general and focused group
inquiry tasks (e.g., science, technology, products and economic
issues, transportation, manpower, environment, ecology, and
safety)—on-site and web learning tasks followed by classroom
presentations and a discussion
Classroom Tasks based on critical reading regarding actual events; a trial
regarding a dilemma presented to the students (methyl
bromide—yes or no? Flame-retardants—yes or no?); peer
teaching of a certain subject (from an idea to a product, different
aspects of the chemical industry, production processes)
 Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry 1037

the chemistry teachers were not familiar with investigative laboratory-based projects
as well as its aligned alternative assessment methods. At the initial stages of the
implementation of the programme, we offer the teachers topics and ideas that they
could use in their classroom. However, their involvement in the programme encour-
ages them to try their own original ideas and activities. We had ample opportunities
to build on our experiences and have the professional development meetings to serve
as a platform for teachers’ reflections and for obtaining feedback from their peers. In
addition, all the ideas, initiatives, mini-projects, and laboratory experiments are
made accessible to other chemistry teachers in the country on the web site that was
constructed.

Conclusion
We live in an era in which chemistry should be presented to the student not only as a
body of knowledge, but also as a vehicle for presenting the technological manifesta-
tions of chemistry and its influence on the students’ personal life and the society in
which he/she lives. The need for relevance in chemistry education has always been
clearly recognized even if its realization has been elusive. The different industrial
chemistry learning materials as well as instructional techniques developed in Israel in
the context of high-school chemistry have attempted to place greater emphasis on
applied chemistry (teaching chemistry in its context) and on its socio-economic and
environmental consequences.
The various research studies that were conducted throughout the years (and detailed
in this paper) provided us with ample evidence that learning Industrial Chemistry
topics and using various types of industry-based learning materials and learning strat-
egies have the potential to provide a unique chemistry classroom learning environment.
The success of any such programme requires the cooperation of four “partners”:
the industry personnel, the teachers, the Ministry of Education (who are responsible
for the syllabus), and the programme designers. In this paper an attempt was made
to describe a curriculum process that took place over a period of more than 20 years.
In addition it should be stated that such a long-term project could be conducted if
all the curricular components (development implementation and evaluation) will be
conducted under the same roof. In this paper we presented the Industrial Chemistry
project as a mean of attaining the goal of teaching chemistry in context. In addition,
we demonstrated how the various learning materials that were developed enabled us
to present the chemistry as a relevant topic both to the student personally as well as
to the society in which they operate.
The dynamic and long-term nature of the project enabled us to make changes
aligned with changes in the education system in Israel in general, and the changes in
content and assessment methods that were implemented more recently in particular.
In conclusion, since the context is highly influenced by changes in the educational
system, reforms in education, and new standards that are employed, it is suggested
that curriculum development centre who specializes in context-based chemistry
should operate in a manner that will cater for to such changes.
1038 A. Hofstein and M. Kesner

Note
1. An English version is available online (http://www.weizmann.ac.il/sci-tea/Brombook).

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