Distinguished Contribution to Chemical Education

发布时间：2016年05月06日 来源：中国化学会

BRINGING CHEMISTRY TO THE COMMUNITY -
The Australian Experience

C.L. Fogliani, AM Associate Professor, Head, School of Public Health Charles Sturt University Bathurst NSW 2795 AUSTRALIA Email: cfogliani@csu.edu.au

ABSTRACT

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute has taken a bold and positive initiative to bring chemistry to the community by organising the Australian National Chemistry Week. The status of chemistry in the community has deteriorated and the aim is to reverse this trend. The attitude that chemistry is responsible for the ills of the world has become widely accepted. Chemistry and chemists in particular are often seen as enemies of the environment without any appreciation of the enormous benefits which have come to the human race through chemistry. The principal aim of Australian National Chemistry Week is to bring chemistry to the community. The objectives are to reach as many members of the community as possible - from primary school children to secondary school children to tertiary students, the general public and the scientific world.

The major activities of Australian National Chemistry Week include an International Chemistry Quiz; special features in 'Science with a Twist. The Helix'; pages in the CSIRO publication 'Scientriffic', a chemistry resource book; chemical analysis competition; feature article competition; short story competition; displays in shopping malls; visits by chemists to primary schools; youth lectures; national radio interviews, television interviews; newspaper feature articles; public lectures and debates; functions to welcome new graduates; crystal growing competition; and chemistry week dinners. Some of these activities will be described in detail.

The performance of boys and girls in the Australian National Chemistry Quiz has been analysed by a group of people. Although some questions were solved equally well by boys and girls, on many questions boys outperformed girls. Analysis of the 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 Quiz papers has shown that male entrants consistently achieved a higher mean score in all year groups. The Quiz questions from 1982 to 1991 have been categorised according to Bloom's Taxonomy and two books containing the questions have been published. These books will be displayed at the conference.

INTRODUCTION

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute has taken a bold and positive initiative to bring chemistry to the community by organising the Australian National Chemistry Week. The status of chemistry in the community has deteriorated and the aim is to reverse this trend. The attitude that chemistry is responsible for the ills of the world has become widely accepted. Unfortunately chemists are often perceived as being responsible for environmental problems. Chemistry and chemists in particular are often seen as enemies of the environment without any appreciation of the enormous benefits which have come to the human race through chemistry. There is insufficient realisation by the community that improvement in our physical and social environment requires the application of chemical knowledge.

The results of this poor public image of chemistry have included lower enrolments in chemistry at all levels of our education system. Chemistry as a discipline is increasingly rejected by young people as a choice of career. It is important to challenge these common misconceptions and to introduce and nurture ideas of chemistry as a science that can and does contribute to the better health and living standards for humanity.

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute has been aware of and concerned about this situation for many years and has implemented measures to counteract it. One such measure is the Australian National Chemistry Week. The principal aim of Australian National Chemistry Week is to bring chemistry to the community. Aspects which are given particular emphasis are:

• the importance of chemistry to the community;
• chemistry as a profession;
• the role of the RACI as the professional society for chemistry; and
• chemistry and careers.

The objectives of Australian National Chemistry Week are to reach as many members of the community as possible - from primary school children to secondary school children to tertiary students and the general public, and the scientific world. The activities of the Australian National Chemistry Week provide a means of communication between the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and the community.

The major activities of Australian National Chemistry Week include: an International Chemistry Quiz; a Chemistry Resource Book; special features in 'Science with a Twist. The Helix'; pages in the CSIRO publication 'Scientriffic'; Chemical Analysis Competition; feature article competition; short story competition; bookshop and library display; displays in shopping malls; visits by chemists to primary schools; youth lectures; national radio interviews; television interviews; newspaper feature articles; public lectures and debates; functions to welcome new graduates; crystal growing competition; and chemistry week dinners.

Special Features in 'Science with a Twist. The Helix'

In an effort to reach many primary school children and their parents special features in the CSIRO publication 'Science with a Twist. The Helix' were produced. The first one 'Our Chemical Bonds' was published in the June/July 1997 edition with an emphasis on chemistry and careers. The aim was to get across the message that by studying chemistry you are opening opportunities that will allow you to enter fields such as agriculture, drug design and development, food processing, cosmetics, journalism, environmental protection, mining, health care, art restoration, defence, polymer science, metallurgy, atomic energy, forensic science, medical research, patent law and waste management.

The second special feature 'Chemistry in its Elements', published in the June/July 1998 edition, emphasised chemistry in the garden, chemistry in the home, chemistry in the factory and chemistry in the kitchen. The focus was on chemicals being all around us and how they influence and improve our way of life. Three activities taken from the CSIRO's 'Double Helix Club' were included. The third special feature 'The Real World of Chemistry' appeared in the June/July 1999 edition. Its focus was on how chemicals are used in many practical situations in the real world. Practising chemists test for drugs in sport, develop bionic body parts, come up with new inventions and help the environment by developing ways to reuse water. It also profiled an outstanding chemist, Alan Walsh, who invented the atomic absorption spectrometer.

Material was published in 'Scientriffic', a bimonthly magazine produced by CSIRO Education. For example, the March/April 2000 edition contains information on the element mercury, and the use of mercury in thermometers and barometers. The July/August 2000 edition contains information on the element sulfur and sulfur compounds. The material is written in a form suitable for the 7 and 8 age group. Each edition has a Teachers Guide which outlines activities that students can safely complete at home. For example, the Teachers Guide associated with the July/August 2000 edition contains activities to explore the effects of acid rain on home-grown seedlings.

Aims and Objectives of Australian National Chemistry Quiz

The Australian National Chemistry Quiz is a unique chemical education activity in the world. It provides a major focus for secondary school students on the relevance of chemistry in an exciting and stimulating way. It has made a significant contribution to the development of a grass-root appreciation of the role of chemistry in our society. Many of the questions are aimed at emphasising the connection between the academic image of chemistry and its day-to-day applications, and its importance in the home, the environment and industry. Thus the questions where possible have been free of specific syllabus content.

The aims of the Quiz are to promote and encourage an awareness of the nature and relevance of chemistry amongst secondary school students. These are clearly related to 'Science for Everybody' which is a national aim for Science Education in Australia. This was one of the reasons for introducing a Junior Year 7 and 8 Quiz for the first time in 1989. It was well received and successful.

It is hoped that the Quiz will interest students in the further study of chemistry and will indicate to students the important role chemistry has to play in our society. Questions are based on the fundamental aspects of chemistry as well as questions involving its application in modern society. The questions are graded in terms of difficulty and it is expected that most students are able to answer many of the questions. The Quiz is held at two Junior levels (Years 7 and 8, and Years 9 and 10) and at two Senior levels (Years 11 and 12). By participating in the Quiz the students have the opportunity to improve their knowledge of chemistry.

Quiz results of Year 10 and Year 11 students are used to help select students to compete in the Chemistry Olympiad which is supported by the Minister for Employment, Education and Training, and the Australian Academy of Science. To quote Professor Curtis, President of the Australian Academy of Science, 'supporting this challenging competition for school students is a far-sighted initiative. It will improve the performance of the higher achiever while raising the interest of students generally in science education.'

I am aware of the lack of chemistry, as a subject, being taught in many junior science syllabi being currently utilised at Levels 7 and 8. However, it is hoped that participation in this activity may stimulate these younger students to a realisation of the important role that chemistry plays in many of the fundamental processes which they encounter in their science course modules and in many aspects of everyday life. On completion of the Quiz, teachers may use it as a teaching tool, particularly if they spend time going through the answers to the questions.

History of Australian National Chemistry Quiz

The Quiz is run in every state in Australia and 15 neighbouring countries. The Quiz was organised for the first time in 1982. It was introduced into Papua New Guinea in 1985, Fiji in 1988, New Zealand in 1992, into Malaysia, Western Samoa and Indonesia in 1993, into Vietnam and Singapore in 1994, into the Philippines in 1995, into Sri Lanka in 1997, into Thailand in 1998, into Brunei, United Kingdom, Switzerland and India in 1999, and into Vanuatu in 2001. The Quiz papers are translated into Vietnamese, Indonesian, Tamil, Sinhale, Thai and French.

The Quiz requires a time slot of 70-80 minutes. The actual duration of each division of the Quiz will be approximately one hour and will consist of 30 multiple choice questions. Answers to the quiz are recorded on a computer mark sense sheet. The marked sheets are returned to the Australian National Chemistry Quiz Chairman at Charles Sturt University for scanning.

The Quiz entrants since inception are shown in Table 1. The breakdown of Quiz entrants in 2002 is shown in Table 2.

TABLE 1: Quiz Entrants Since Inception

Year	Schools	Entrants
1982	150	8,850
1983	450	23,000
1984	550	29,000
1985	608	34,348
1986	662	38,857
1987	709	42,243
1988	774	53,076
1989	801	58,662
1990	843	62,930
1991	854	63,580
1992	840	63,923
1993	962	68,659
1994	1,062	72,009
1995	1,049	71,013
1996	1,246	83,600
1997	1,465	89,606
1998	1,634	97,402
1999	1,628	103,760
2000	1,642	117,777
2001	1,602	115,087
2002	1,300	98,316

In 2002 there were 98,316 entries in the Quiz from 1,300 schools. A breakdown of the entries is shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2: Quiz Entries for 2002

STATE/ COUNTRY	YEAR 7	YEAR 8	YEAR 9	YEAR 10	YEAR 11	YEAR 12	TOTAL ENTERED	NO OF SCHOOLS
ACT	223	385	369	476	395	232	2080	27
NSW	2,706	3,214	3,706	4,563	5,365	3,850	23,404	334
NT	2	3	5	16	25	37	88	7
QLD	355	1,213	1,321	1,982	4,326	3,920	13,117	222
SA	43	87	83	525	1,157	753	2,648	68
TAS	148	194	180	244	191	176	1,133	21
VIC	370	465	515	868	2,733	1,693	6,644	120
WA	105	738	830	1,788	1,520	1,184	6,165	62
AUSTRALIA	3,952	6,299	7,009	10,462	15,712	11,845	55,279	861
NEW ZEALAND	4	180	147	398	935	778	2,442	74
PNG	0	8	18	84	141	3	254	6
BRUNEI	0	0	0	433	422	187	1,042	29
SINGAPORE	15	15	150	870	11	11	1,072	5
SRI LANKA	0	0	0	5,704	6,101	0	11,805	94
PHILIPPINES	50	50	95	50	100	50	395	5
FIJI	0	63	89	246	321	244	963	20
SWITZERLAND	0	0	0	50	0	0	50	1
VIETNAM	0	622	316	867	943	463	3,211	26
THAILAND	0	0	0	3,934	3,964	4,121	12,019	37
INDIA	0	136	0	344	100	72	652	9
INDONESIA	0	0	2,300	2,300	4,600	0	9,200	126
MALAYSIA	0	0	9	52	0	0	61	3
W. SAMOA	30	29	21	19	19	53	171	4
TOTAL	4,051	7,402	10,154	25,813	33,369	17,827	98,316	1,300

Total Years 7/8 11,453 
Total Years 9/10 35,967 
Total Year 11 33,369
Total Year 12 17,827
Total Juniors 47,420 
Total Seniors 51,196
TABLE 1: Quiz Entries for 2002

Philosophy of Australian National Chemistry Quiz

The Quiz does not set out to test any specific science or chemistry syllabus and it is not designed to find the best chemistry student either nationally or statewide. In line with the philosophy of the promotion of chemistry it was decided that a substantial number of participants should receive an award. Further to avoid any interstate difference or country difference in syllabus content, all students compete on a grade and state or country only basis, ie. a Year 12 student only competes with Year 12 students from his/her own state or country. With these ideals in mind approximately 40% of all participants receive a Certificate of Merit. Ten percent receive a High Distinction, 15% receive a Distinction and 15% receive a Credit. The certificates are designed and printed with the view that a successful participant would be able to display the award. The certificates have the Royal Australian Chemical Institute seal and are signed by the President of the Institute and the Chairman of the Australian National Chemistry Quiz.

Certificates of Excellence which consists of a certificate and a plaque are awarded to students who score 100% in the Quiz. An Award of Excellence consisting of a plaque is given to students for outstanding results. In Australia, the Certificates of Excellence, Awards of Excellence and Certificates are presented to the winners by chemists who visit the school and make the presentation. This is a further mechanism to allow the Royal Australian Chemical Institute to promote chemistry and chemists in the high school. In Western Samoa in 1997 the awards were presented by the Australian High Commissioner, H.E. David Hegarty.

Momentos

All participants in the Quiz receives a Participation Certificate and other momentos which promote the role of chemistry. Each year the Quiz has had a promotional slogan which has been incorporated into a variety of decals and book marks. Slogans include:

• Chemists have solutions.
• Chemistry is the Central Science.
• What in the World Isn't Chemistry?
• Chemistry Working for a Better Tomorrow.
• Chemists are Reactive Scientists.
• Chemistry Serving the Australian Community.
• Chemistry Bonding the Asian Pacific Region.
• Chemistry - Caring for the Earth.
• Chemistry is Life.
• It's a Chemical World.
• Discover the World Through Chemistry.

Over one million stickers have been produced. These have been widely distributed to chemists, parents and pupils at both the secondary and primary school. They present an interesting and human side to chemistry. Small and large Periodic Tables have also been produced and given to entrants in the Quiz.

Comments in Questionnaire on the 1999 Australian National Chemistry Quiz

• We believe the Chemistry Quiz to be so relevant we pay the entry fee for all students from Science Department funds so participation is almost 100%.
• Motivates my seniors to start revising early. Helps in the end of the year revision and external examination.
• The students who participate enjoy the challenge and they are motivated to sign up. Supported by parents who pay the entry fee if they won't.
• Very worthwhile for students. Gives their confidence a boost.
• Congratulations to the organisers. The Quiz has improved my students' abilities in answering Chemistry (in English). Encourages them to have interests in Chemistry.
• Great Idea. Useful benchmark. Keep up the good work. Really appreciate the Resource Book.
• A great way of introducing students to Chemistry.
• Keep up the good work.
• Keep up the Excellent Standard in all aspects.
• A well organised competition! A pleasure to participate.
• A new and enjoyable experience for all of us. I'm sure our results will improve with more time.
• Parents encourage participation and students are enthusiastic.
• The kids enjoyed it and the Certificates and small periodic tables are great.
• I think the Quiz is good value and the periodic table is an excellent memento.
• The Certificate with the names of students are attractive and highly valued by them.
• Doing a great job mate, I don't know how you keep it up.
• Thank you for your superb organisation and help with problems such as incorrect names due to student error.
• It's great!! Our top students have really gained in their perception of their own ability and Chemistry.
• Excellent. Thanks for permitting us to participate.
• Thanks again Charles. Particularly your reminder that we forgot to enter.

The "Australian Chemistry Resource Book"

As well as the promotional material given to entrants the important role of the school teacher in running the Quiz at the school is recognised by the presentation of the 'Australian Chemistry Resource Book'. The Resource Book provides a wide variety of education information on many aspects of chemistry - from interesting demonstrations to industrial applications. It has been described by the late Professor Jim O'Donnell as the 'Reader's Digest of Australian Chemistry', and is an important medium of communication between the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and school teachers. It provides an opportunity for the members of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute to contribute to the teaching of chemistry in schools

Australian National Chemical Analysis Competition

Since chemistry is a practical subject it was felt necessary to have an activity that involved some practical skills as part of Australian National Chemistry Week activities. It was apparent that in many schools emphasis on practical work, especially practical work carried out by the students themselves, had decreased. In an attempt to reverse this trend, the Australian National Chemical Analysis Competition has been organised annually since 1984. It provides a means by which students who excel in practical skills in science can achieve recognition in their school alongside those who excel in sport or art.

The competition is held in two stages: Regional competitions in which schools are invited to enter teams of three, which in 2001 involved approximately 1,400 teams in centres in every state and territory; and National finals in which the best teams from the Regional competition compete. Ten percent (10%) of teams from the larger centres and a minimum of two from smaller centres compete in the National finals.

In the Regional competitions held between April and September, each member of the team carries out a simple acid-base titration. For the finals there is a more challenging exercise involving the determination of the number of moles of potassium hydrogen phthalate in an unknown sample. A sum of squares of difference between reported and actual numbers of moles is calculated for each team. Every team for which this sum is less than 1200 x 10-12 is an excellent team. Each finalist is presented with a small medallion: 'gold', if the result is within 1%; 'silver' otherwise. Each of the schools supporting an excellent team receives a plaque. Each member of the top five teams receives a mounted plaque.

The success of the competition is due to the hard work and enthusiasm of all those involved in running and setting up the local competition, the teachers of chemistry in the schools, and the students themselves, many of whom take up the challenge of achieving reproducible reliable results, spend hours at lunch time or after school practising, and enjoying it.

Chemists in Schools Programs
The program is generally launched during Australian National Chemistry Week. In Queensland the program is offered to all Year 6 children at all primary schools in the state. It involves a visit by a professional chemist to the school who talks about chemistry and his/her occupation in the chemical industry and also does a simple chemistry demonstration for the class. Last year in Queensland alone there were over 390 schools and 20,000 pupils taking part with close to 200 chemists being involved. The school is provided with a resource booklet outlining simple experiments and a colourful poster, and each student receives a fun chemistry sticker to commemorate the chemist's visit. The Chemists in School Program aims to encourage more and better science in primary schools.

The Australian National Chemistry Week Short Story Competition

This competition encourages students to combine their chemistry knowledge with their writing skills. Imagine yourself as either a chemist or a chemical. What sort of life would you lead? Can you use your chemical knowledge to solve a mystery or help a friend? Can your imagination allow chemistry to influence your relationships with your family and friends?

The judges would welcome and encourage stories that show both men and women playing an active part as scientists and other main characters.

There are two categories for this competition.

Category 1 - Students in Years 7-9; and
Category 2 - Students in years 10-12.

There will be $375 prize money awarded in each category.

1st prize - $200
2nd prize - $100
3rd prize - $75

The rules are very simple.

1. The story must be original, fictional and deal with real chemistry - not science-fiction chemistry.
2. There are no constraints on the number of words.
3. Entries should preferably be typed and include on a separate sheet the author's name, school, year level, address and category in which it is to be entered.

Additional information may be obtained by visiting the following web sites:

http://www.raci.org.au/RACI/ChemWeek/
http://www.raci.org.au/RACI/ChemWeek/ ANCQ/
http://www.raci.org.au/RACI/ChemWeek/ ANCQ/invite.html
http://www.raci.org.au/RACI/ChemWeek/ ANCQ/entryform.html
http://www.raci.org.au/report.html

Performance of Males and Females in the Australian National Chemistry Quiz

In contrast to studies made of the relative level of achievement of boys and girls in mathematics and science subjects other than chemistry, the question of whether there are sex differences in the ability to solve chemistry questions has not attracted much attention. The results of the Australian National Chemistry Quiz for the years 1991 to 1994 have been analysed to see if there are sex differences in the results of the Quiz. The initial approach was to categorise the Quiz questions by using the Bloom taxonomy of cognitive educational objectives and to compare how well the students coped with the various types of Questions(1, 2, 3). Two books containing the multiple choice chemistry questions which have been classified according to Bloom's taxonomy have been produced and made available to teachers (4, 5).

Comparison of male and female mean total scores in the Australian National Chemistry Quiz were made for 1993 and 1994. The results are shown in Table 3 (for 1993) and Table 4 (for 1994). The tables also show the standard deviation and the number of students entering the quizzes.

TABLE 3: Comparison of Male and Female Performances in the 1993 ANCQ

Year	Student Numbers		Mean Scores		Standard Deviation
	M	F	M	F	M	F
7	1513	1761	14.48	14.07	4.64	4.06
8	2849	3485	16.92	16.08	4.92	4.33
9	3559	4429	14.81	14.19	4.59	4.07
10	5574	6523	16.79	15.98	4.78	4.28
11	8243	8047	18.35	17.57	5.08	4.60
12	6910	6143	16.59	15.34	5.07	4.73

TABLE 4: Comparison of Male and Female Performances in the 1994 ANCQ

Year	Student Numbers		Mean Scores		Standard Deviation
	M	F	M	F	M	F
7	1884	1824	13.40	13.37	5.00	4.53
8	3013	4053	16.14	15.49	5.44	4.89
9	3801	5047	17.29	17.01	5.28	4.76
10	6144	7608	19.45	18.75	5.51	4.90
11	8352	8008	18.00	16.99	5.11	4.76
12	7006	6160	19.74	18.58	4.94	4.52

The results show that male students consistently achieved a higher mean total score for each of the Year groups (7 to 12) in1993 and 1994, and similar results were obtained in 1991 and 1992(6). The mean scores for females and males were significantly different at the 0.001 level for the 1991-1994 period, except for Year 7 in 1992 and 1994 when the level of significance was 0.01. Two factors which may contribute to these less significant results for Year 7 students are very little chemistry has been studied before sitting for the ANCQ and the small number of candidates involved.

Gender and Correct Answers

Table 5 lists the number of questions for each year group for which a higher percentage of males than females gave the correct answers in the 1991-1994 Quizzes. In each case more males answered the majority of the questions correctly.

TABLE 5: Number of Questions Answered More Correctly by Males (1991-1994)

Year	1991	1992	1993	1994
7	21	18	22	16
8	24	22	21	19
9	24	25	21	18
10	27	25	23	24
11	25	22	22	26
12	27	26	27	23

Do the results obtained for the ANCQ mean that males know more chemistry than females? Or are males better than females at answering multiple choice questions? Results of other investigations indicate that the multiple choice question format for tests and examinations appears to favour male students(7, 8, 9).

Mathematical Skills and Interpretation of Graphs

In 1993 and 1994, a total of 32 questions involving mathematical skills and six questions requiring the interpretation of graphs were included in the Year 11 and Year 12 ANCQs. Males performed better on both types of question with the average differences in scores being 4.9% and 5.4% respectively. The mathematical operations required to answer these questions include the manipulation of fractions, percentages, multiplication and division. These operations are not considered to be difficult for Year 11 and 12 students, and this may suggest that the main difficulties experienced by female students are with the chemical concepts involved in the questions.

Class and Teacher Gender

All the schools (N=1062) which participated in the 1994 ANCQ were asked to complete a questionnaire which provided information on the school, the gender of science/chemistry classes and how the students were selected to participate in the Quiz. The intention was to gain more information on the sample of students participating in the Quiz. Four hundred and nine schools replied.

There are three types of classes (all male, all female and mixed gender) interacting with male and female teachers of science/chemistry. In each of the Year groups 7-12, there were smaller numbers of students in single gender classes than mixed classes. The average mark (out of 30) for each class group with male and female teachers was investigated using the raw data.

Single Gender Classes

Students in single gender classes gained the best results in the 1994 ANCQ. In years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, the top scoring groups were all male classes of students with female science teachers. In Year 7, all female classes with male science teachers gained the highest score of all the combinations. In Years 7, 10, 11 and 12, females in classes taught by male teachers did better in the ANCQ than females taught by female teachers.

Male teachers in girls schools and female teachers in boys schools are not common. It is suggested that a female teacher in a boys school is very likely to be a good teacher. However, in the case of a male teacher in a girls school there may be very little difference between male and female teachers.

Mixed Gender Classes

More students in each of Years 7-12 were taught chemistry in mixed gender classes. Males performed better than females in Years 7-12 with both male and female teachers. Males with male teachers performed better in Years 11 and 12 while male students with female teachers performed better in Years 8, 9 and 10.

Conclusion

In this investigation we found that:

• Results in the ANCQ from 1991-1994 show no significant improvement in the performance of female students versus male students.
• Females do not perform as well as males as measured by:

  • numbers of females in the top 150 students in each Year group.
  • overall average performance of males and females on the Quiz as measured by the mean total scores.
  • questions involving mathematical or graphical skills.

• In single gender classes in 1994, the top scoring groups in Years 8-12 are all male classes with female teachers. In Year 7 all female classes with male teachers gained the top scores.
• In mixed gender classes in 1994, male students performed better than females in Years 7-12 regardless of teacher gender.

References 

1. Beard, J.H., Fogliani, C.L., Owens, C. & Wilson, A. 1990, An analysis of the Australian National Chemistry Quiz questions, Chemistry in Australia, 57 (11), pp.377-378.