The structure of core foundational courses, such as introductory chemistry, is the outcome of a complex net of social constructs. The recent redesign of the AP Chemistry course is a potentially important addition to this social net, since it provides a concrete and detailed specification of a national course. The intellectual framework for the redesign merged �big ideas� with �science practices�. A similar framing is found in the �core ideas�, �practices� and �cross cutting concepts� of the Next Generation Science Standards. Such frameworks are popular because they address two major concerns with current instruction: (i) Introductory courses can devolve into a laundry lists of topics. The �big ideas� framing seeks a set of core ideas that best convey the overall conceptual structure of the domain. (ii) Introductory courses can fail to engage students with the domain content in a way that resembles that of experts. The �science practices� framing identifies, and find ways to engage students in, authentic practices. The redesigned AP Chemistry course includes ~100 learning objectives, each of which links content with practices.We will present results from two projects that expand the above intellection framework in ways that: (i) bring in additional features of the domain structure and (ii) are based on textual analysis, and thus go beyond the primarily social construct of �redesign by committee�. The first project analyses reports on modern chemistry to discover the goal structure of chemistry: chemists explain phenomena, analyze chemical samples, and synthesize new substances. Comparison with textbooks reveals that current instruction does little to convey this goal structure to students. The second project compares the treatment of acid-based chemistry in introductory textbooks, with textbooks for which introductory chemistry is prerequisite. The analysis reveals surprisingly large misalignments between the focus of the introductory course and the needs of the follow-on courses.

Linking core concepts to science practices as a framework for redesigning Advanced Placement Chemistry: What next?

248th National Meeting (2014)

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