Effective Pedagogical Approaches Used in High School Chemistry Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

This article systematically reviews the pedagogical approaches adopted in high school chemistry education with the aim of highlighting the most effective evidence-based instructional practices reported in the literature. For this, a meta-analysis of 35 pedagogical approaches is analyzed, and their effect sizes (Cohen’s d) are compared in terms of students’ learning performance. In comparison to the traditional teaching approach, the data confirmed the effectiveness of using various teaching strategies in chemistry education toward student accomplishment. The results indicate that, in general, deploying chemistry education practices in secondary education improves student learning compared to control settings (d = 1.06). Furthermore, this impact is considerably stronger when the problem-based learning approach (d = 3.35) is adopted. Therefore, according to the meta-analytical evaluation, embracing various learning paths through creative teaching promotes academic achievement. In terms of instructional quality, the findings provide a comprehensive picture of recent educational practices in chemistry instruction, which will serve as the foundation for future educational changes. We believe the results of this study will promote a progression of intimation to evolve the current high school chemistry practices and pave the direction for future research in chemistry education.

A meta-analysis of effectiveness of chemical bonding-based intervention studies in improving academic performance

“…These values align with the effect-sizes of conceptual change strategies reported by Pacaci et al (2023). Also, the mean effect-size of the studies with high school is very close to the value (Cohen d = 1.06) found by Ahmad et al (2023). This may result from the nature of the course involving chemical bonding topic.…”

Large Language Models are Catalyzing Chemistry Education

“…Lectures play a pivotal role in education, serving as the primary medium through which educators present specific topics from a curriculum. Although lecturing is usually a linear and one-sided process, where teachers serve as knowledge givers and students as receivers [49,50], some pedagogical models suggest that more productive approaches can involve more active roles form the student's side, mediated by different levels of intervention [51,52]. Under these views, lecturing is a more dynamic and bi-directional process, where the advent of LLMs offers unprecedented possibilities in the lecture planning and delivery stages [53] as shown in Figure 2.…”

Toward Collaborative Dialogue: Unpacking the Researcher–Educator Divide to Advance Chemistry Education

“…We can leverage our existing communication pathways to move beyond knowledge dissemination toward knowledge mobilization. ,− The Journal of Chemical Education (JCE) publishes reviews and meta-analyses, which can be directed at educators − or curriculum developers but are most often directed at researchers. − JCE regularly publishes primers to facilitate chemistry content knowledge development − or improve researchers’ methodological knowledge. − However, primers that support domain-specific pedagogical development, such as the laboratory design primer by Neiles and Arnett (2021), are rare and can be difficult to find. In comparison, CBELife Sciences Education’s Current Insights feature curates and translates cross-disciplinary knowledge about teaching and learning in biology.…”