Chemistry as Part of Society Through Centuries – The First Experience From Teachers’ Education

Abstract

The course Chemistry as part of society through centuries was offered as an elective course to students future teachers at Faculty of Education Charles University in Prague. It was special challenge for them because the course was organized in English language with lecturer from the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry realising post-doc stay here. The main aims of the course were that students: (i) become familiar with historical development of chemistry as part of the society, (ii) learn about important discoveries from the past and scientists creditable for these discoveries, (iii) enrich understanding the nature of science. The syllabus encompassed twelve topics that covered period from prehistory to the 20th century. In order to monitor students’ progress, they were tested by the same test in the beginning and in the end of the course. Students’ exam task was to write an essay about self-chosen topic from history of chemistry. The course was enrolled by 33 students. Three topics were elaborated in the classroom, while others were realized in distance form through video-presentations and other teaching materials. By comparison of students’ answers in the initial and final test, it can be concluded that they improved knowledge about chemical discoveries from the past, and some views on the nature of science. The students wrote essays on different topics, but the topics women in chemistry and Czech scientists were more frequent than others.