Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
much? It may also be the case that the additional enrichment activities can be seen
by gifted learners as challenging and enjoyable, highlighting just how pedestrian the
compulsory core classes seem (certainly an issue suggested in the project discussed
below). They may wonder why they have to give up some of their own time to
experience chemistry teaching that excites and challenges them. Enrichment activ-
ities should not therefore be seen as compensating for undemanding learning expe-
riences in regular chemistry classes. That is not an argument for avoiding suitable
enrichment activities, such as chemistry
, for those students who are
suitable and keen to be involved: however such optional extras do not negate the
need for
all
learners to be suitably challenged in their standard curriculum sessions.
Olympiads
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'
2.1 Optimal Levels of Challenge When Teaching Gifted
Learners
A key feature of effective teaching is tuning the level of demand of tasks to match
the learners (see Chapter “Meeting Educational Objectives in the Affective and
Cognitive Domains: Personal and Social Constructivist Perspectives on Enjoyment,
Motivation and Learning Chemistry”). It has been suggested that student learning
experience can be characterised in terms of how task demand matches student skill
level (Nakamura,
1988
). When a task makes high demands that are matched by high
levels of skill, students can potentially engage productively and experience what
has been termed
(Csikszentmihalyi,
1997
)—a high level of engagement in an
activity. When students feel they are being successful in responding to what they
recognise as challenges in their learning, they are more likely to experience learning
as a positive—rewarding and worthwhile—activity that makes them feel good about
themselves (see Fig.
1
). Similarly, there is potential for learners who regularly
experience failure in the face of such perceived challenges to doubt their ability
and find learning a negative experience. This is a general argument that applies to all
learners, whether gifted in chemistry, more typical, or struggling in the subject. The
particular issue with gifted learners is that work which offers optimal challenge to
many of their peers offers little to stretch their thinking and tempt them out of their
comfort zone—their
flow
'
'
(Vygotsky,
1978
)—where drill
may improve accuracy and speed but does little to develop their thinking or skills.
zone of actual development
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'
2.2 Higher Levels of Intellectual Development
To consider how the teacher should design learning activities to offer optimal
challenge for the most able learners, it is useful to consider some ideas about the
nature of intellectual development. Bloom
s taxonomies (Bloom,
1968
; Krathwohl,
Bloom, & Masia,
1968
) can offer some guidance here, but especially when
'
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