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Science Literacy Project Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny LeCouteur and Jay Burreson Click here for the Project Blog - http://digitaldapp.wordpress.com Click here for the Poster Gallery Click here for the Original Grant Proposal Document Rationale Since the beginning of my teaching career, I've strongly believed in the fact that literacy serves as the core of all education (as obvious as this might sound here, not everyone believes in this - thanks to Dr. Mark Franek for helping me see the light). Pursuant to that, I've made an effort over the last few years to try to integrate more reading and writing into my chemistry classes. I've had students read academic articles, excerpt from books, and, most recently, chapters from Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History (read a short review I wrote on this book in grad school. Each of the seventeen chapters consists of a self-contained mini-unit discussing a group of related molecules (for example, birth control hormones or salts) and their importance in historical events. The introduction to the book provides a primer on some of the chemistry and required terminology. It is simple enough for the layman (this isn't a textbook, after all, it's a history) but technical enough to get the point across. Selecting this particular book served several purposes. First, it represents a type of literature that students would almost never have walked into the bookstore and picked up off the shelf for themselves; it exposes students to something new. Secondly, the book is, at its core, a book of history - chemistry is merely the context - so the students get some serious exposure to "alternate hypothesis" for the driving forces behind major historical movements. Thirdly, students do very little reading of this type - arguably, none at all - in their science courses. True mastery of literacy cannot be achieved without experiencing it across all disciplines. Project Details I received a grant from the University of Pennsylvania Science Teacher Institute (where I also received my Master of Chemistry Education) in the fall of 2010 to purchase 80 copies of Napoleon's Buttons for use in my chemistry classroom. I created a project description (opens in a new window) that offered just enough details for the students to be able to complete the project, but just little enough to leave it wide open to their creative whims. This project was designed to give students an opportunity to flex their varied learning styles and address the multiple intelligences, as originally developed by Howard Gardner. Also, students whose strengths lie in the visual arts find and opportunity to express themselves in their chemistry class, something I daresay rarely occurs in other science courses. Student were asked to select any two chapters (topics) that interested them (I gave them about ten minutes in class to flip through the book) and read the introduction and those chapters (on their own time). The project then required students to complete three tasks:
Student Response This project allowed students to approach their experience with Napoleon's Buttons in their own way, with as much freedom as possible. The book is very readable - I would not have selected it if I didn't genuinely believe that. Convincing the students to read the book wasn't an issue - the real challenge was getting them to loosen up their typical expectations. For an average project in an average class, students would be given relatively stringent guidelines for the deliverable. I took the opposite approach - I was as vague as possible. I wanted the students to have the opportunity to flex their creative muscles and do whatever made them feel comfortable. The students' response to this project was overwhelmingly positive. I administered a survey to the students at the end of the project - To demonstrate the students’ interest and the products success I shall summarize the data from those surveys. The work students submitted for this project confirmed, for the most part, that the students strongly committed their efforts to it. They showed exceptional understanding of the material, both in their summaries and in their visual presentations. They showed that they put thought and time into their writing and their poster construction. On more than one occasion, I overheard students discussing the book on their own. These things lay bare the fact that they were open to giving this “new” type of literature a try below and genuinely found the reading interesting and worthwhile. At the beginning of the project, the students were only moderately nervous about the prospect of reading a book in a science class – an activity, incidentally, that most of them had never done. The students appreciated the deliberate vagueness of the content requirements for each portion of the project, and felt that the timeframe (three weeks, soup to nuts) was adequate. They were comfortable with the poster and blog (even though most of them had never used a blog previously), and preferred this format to a stand-and-deliver oral presentation. They also indicated that the requirement to read others’ summaries and comment on them contributed moderately to their learning and enjoyment of the book. In terms of their growth, upon reading the book, the students indicated that they found it interesting, learned something from it, and that both the intrinsic and academic rewards for the project were appropriate and acceptable. There was a moderate interest in reading similar books independently in the future. Lastly, no source of information is more credible than the students’ own words. Below are a few comments, which are strongly indiciative of the students' opinions in general:
This project was thoroughly vague. It was interestingly vague and because of that, it forced you to push [your own limits]. I really, REALLY appreciated the opportunity the artistic portion since that is my strong suit…
I thought that the way the assignments were due was well spread out and allowed each student to be able to complete [each part] with no problem. I enjoyed doing this project a lot. I learned many new things about both salt and dye that I was excited to share with my family. I think this would be a great project to continue doing with future chemistry classes…I really enjoyed doing this project and thought the book was very informational… Doing this project allowed me to learn about the history of certain molecules and it showed me how big of an impact they are in society today…I was definitely less stressed doing this project than doing a research paper for any other class...plus the book that we had to read was really enjoyable. I really liked Napoleon's Buttons not just on a personal level, but on an educational level too… Having the term "poster" mean anything visual…really helped because that took away the stress of having to create some elaborate…presentation… I think that this project was interesting, and that its different approach was a good change of pace… I really liked this project. It was a different way of learning…we became experts in two topics and then learned from our classmates. Also it was great how relaxed the poster was. We were able to create or do whatever we wanted with [few] requirements… This project was a lot of fun and I appreciate that we had the chance to do something like this, other than the usual book report… I think reading other people's responses was good because it got us to look more at other topics in the book we couldn't read… I enjoyed doing this project. I definitely would not have chosen this book on my own… The Future After collecting feedback from the students and observing their reactions, I have devised a short list of a few additions or modifications to be included in future assignments. My original test classes were accelerated chemistry students; several of the ideas in this list are intended to enrich the project for lower- or higher-level students.
The Bottom Line This project had many goals and a commensurate number of variables associated with those goals. Based on my own observations, the quality of the deliverables, and the students’ words and opinions collected by means of the survey following the end of the project. The students had fun with the project, were interested in the book, and felt that the academic aspects of the project were fair and appropriate. However, the bottom line this project is the answer to a single question: did the integration of literacy and cross-disciplinary skills contribute significantly to student learning? From the students’ own words, many of them felt that they learned something from the chapters they read – some more than others, of course, and along a scale that seemed to run parallel with the students’ interest in the book. Students had a chance to write about topics they enjoyed with few constraints, and were able to be artistically creative in a way not common in science classes. This project did not have the goal of teaching chemistry content – frankly, the curricula currently in use in chemistry classrooms are more than enough to cover the content requirements. I do not claim that students learned curriculum-specific chemistry as a result of this project; however, I am certain that they learned something about chemistry in a historical context. Students were exposed to a unique perspective on the influence of science on the unfolding of historical events, a perspective that lends to one of science teachers’ greatest challenges – connecting science to the students’ lives. Students had an opportunity to participate in expository writing using skills learned and refined primarily in their English classes. They had an opportunity to read critically as they have been taught in English and social studies courses. They created diverse visual presentations, drawing on skills learned in art or drafting, performing arts, journalism, and other classes which have required such presentations in the past. In some cases, students who read the same chapters discussed their reading, their perspectives, and the content, building teamwork and communications skills. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I discussed the students’ opinions of the project with them in a group setting, and solicited those opinions using a formal, detailed survey – an exercise in reflective practice and metacognition for the students themselves. Did this project contribute significantly to student learning? I believe it did. It gave students an opportunity to reinforce skills learned across the curriculum in a new context. It offered an opportunity to use familiar skills to meet unfamiliar challenges. It offered an opportunity for students to take control of their own learning and expand beyond the original project description. It offered me, as the instructor, a large amount of flexibility since this project was minimally intrusive on my class time. It encouraged students to think reflectively about their work. All of these results demonstrate that a project of this type can give students an opportunity to learn new things, reinforce skills, and connect all of it to their lives and their general education. |
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Copyright © 2006-2012 by Digital Dappolone
Copyright © 2006-2012 by Digital Dappolone