RSC: Learn Chemistry is a British organization whose mission is to encourage student interest in chemistry and to provide students with a better understanding of potential chemistry careers. Almost all of the information provided on the site targets those two agendas, which is why I selected this website as a valuable tool. Academic content often eclipses application and student interest, which can make chemistry seem like an out-of-reach subject.
In many situations students classify themselves as a liberal arts student, a STEM student, or an alternative discipline student. RSC does a very good job of providing chemistry connections to everyday life. For example, the website provides explanations about the use of chemistry in household products, cosmetics, sports, and a variety of other topics. The range of topics is very broad and has connections to teenage life such that students who do not perceive themselves as being a science student may find topics interesting that relate to their own experiences.
In addition to being a potential motivator for students, the materials that are provided are designed for a variety of age brackets. Most items are designed for students between the ages of 14-16 and 16-18. The website does provide some resources for primary and post-secondary students but those resources are much more limited. The resources from the website that may provide the most benefit to the student are the career and product related videos. These videos have professionals describing their job and the role that chemistry plays in developing new products.
Although the website has many good resources that can be modified (Word, PowerPoint) to meet the needs of the students, I believe that many of the resources would need to be simplified or presented with many more scaffolds. The ideas for the projects are very impressive and could provide inspiration for activities related to the subject. I would use the website for the videos, experiments, and as a database of chemistry examples.
As compared to many other chemistry websites, this site is not a tutorial or an educational content supplement, but does have much better site layout and visual appeal than the standard chemistry webpage. The site does provide some interactive features but the key multimedia aspects revolve around web videos and PowerPoint slides. The website also has very few advertisements or links that remove the student from this webpage.
Examples:
Main Website: http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/
I like this website and it might be useful to me later in my career. I have to agree that some of the content appears to be a little advanced for regular/basic, CP, or even maybe some honors students. So like you said it would need to be modified a little to become appropriate for student use. However, I enjoyed some of the games offered by the website. I know students love games like these and I can see them used to reinforce material and also as a prize for students.
ReplyDeleteI really like the professional interviews because students usually don't know what to expect from a career or they think a a scientist sits in a lab doing non-application type work.
DeleteI will have to check out the games. I quickly looked at them but didn't do too much with them.
Hey Erin,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am a Spanish teacher and would probably not find too much use for this particular website in my classroom, I think it is definitely an awesome website for Science students. I love that you brought up the connection to students lives (ex. household products, cosmetics, sports, etc.). Chemistry is a tough subject and is often hard to relate to, by providing these explanations the website makes chemistry relative to students! I also like that the site provides potential job positions relating to the field of chemistry in order to motivate students and allow them to understand why science is important for their futures. This website not only provides valid information but motivation too!!