Students (16 years old) attending the first year of Chemistry classes in a private High School in Buenos Aires were demanded to prepare a presentation including Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the subject �Legal and Illegal Drugs�. The work was the last of the year. Students have to work in teams (4-5 people each). Basic information could be found in a given text (1). Students produced six different ICT presentations.Final assessments involved self evaluation on their team ICT production, on evaluation of others� work and metacognitive responses to a questionnaire that included questions �about your understanding�, �about the exercises you have done�, �about the theoretical part�, �about the way of assessment�, �about what you have learnt about the subject�.The assessment showed that most important goals have been achieved during the context-based work. Motivation, commitment and self regulated learning could be achieved through relevant problem solving that involved chemistry subjects in a real context and collaborative learning (2, 3).(1) Wolansky, M & Rossetti, V. (2011) Avoiding pain? In search of happiness? Drugs for using and abusing;; in Chemistry and Civilization, Galagovsky, L. (Director), Argentine Chemical Society Editor,Argentina.(2) Gabel, D. (1999). Improving Teaching and Learning through Chemistry Education Research: A Look to the Future. J. Chem. Educ., 76 (4), p 548.(3) Pilot. A & Bulte. A. (2006). The Use of �Contexts� as a Challenge for the Chemistry Curriculum: Its successes and the need for further development and understanding. International Journal of Science Education. 28 (9) p 1087.

Chemistry in context: A case on the subject of legal and illegal drugs

248th National Meeting (2014)

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