Attainment standards in chemistry teaching: A vision of chemically literate young people

Abstract

The paper presents ten standards which are the result of defining chemical literacy within general scientific literacy regarded necessary to every young person. Our aim is, by offering these standards, to precisely define all knowledge and skills which each student should acquire while studying chemistry. It is about knowledge necessary in everyday life, which is a part of general education which again is necessary for lifelong education as well as for personal and professional self-realization. Namely, they include knowledge, skills and attitudes shared by everybody at the end of general education. The formulation of the suggested standards is based on the results of several long-termed researches of the students' attainments in the area of chemistry at various educational levels, as well as on an analysis of the related experiences in other countries. Although the suggested standards are not dependent on current chemistry curricula, they are in accordance with the aims of studying chemistry in primary and secondary schools. In other words if the conditions for attainment, which are defined in these standards, are provided, the aims of studying chemistry on primary and secondary school levels will be achieved.

U radu je prikazano deset standarda koji su rezultat određenja hemijske pismenosti kao sastavnog dela opšte naučne pismenosti, neophodne svakom mladom čoveku. Naš cilj je da ovim predlogom standarda precizno odredimo znanja i umenja koja bi trebalo da stekne (razvije) svaki učenik tokom učenja hemije. Reč je o znanjima koja su potrebna u svakodnevnom životu, koja su deo opšteg obrazovanja neophodnog za obrazovanje tokom celog života i za ličnu i profesionalnu realizaciju. Zapravo, to su znanja, veštine u stavovi koje svako treba da poseduje na kraju opšteg obrazovanja. Ovde predloženi standardi formulisani su na osnovu rezultata višegodišnjih ispitivanja učeničkih postignuća u oblasti hemije na različitim nivoima obrazovanja, kao i na osnovu analize iskustava u svetu. Iako su ovi standardi nezavisni od postojećih programa hemije, oni su u skladu sa ciljevima učenja hemije u osnovnoj i srednjoj školi. Drugim rečima, stvaranjem uslova za postignuća predviđena ovim standardima, ispunjavaju se ciljevi učenja hemije na osnovnoškolskom i srednjoškolskom nivou. .