Cooperative Learning With and About Internet Forums: A Case Study on a Unit on the Consumption and Chemistry of Mineral Water vs. Tap Water

Johanna Dittmar,Ingo Eilks

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.742497

Abstract

In today’s society, digital media play an increasing role in gathering and exchanging information. A growing part of communication takes place in the Internet and many people are increasingly influenced by information provided via digital and social media. Development of critical media literacy is needed, if the general public is expected to effectively deal with this flood of information and to become able to distinguish between correct and false information sources. Thus, critical media education becomes an important aim of education in general, and of chemistry education in particular when considering questions directly related to chemistry and its associated consumer products or technologies. The article describes a curriculum development case study investigating the integration of media education with chemistry learning along the case of learning with and about Internet forums on the topic of water chemistry. A unit integrating theoretical and practical chemistry learning based on student communication is described, which is built around a digital forum operated by Moodle. The unit design and findings from the implementation are presented.

Highlights

In today’s developed countries, almost every teenager between the ages of twelve and nineteen has a personal, Internet-enabled mobile phone and uses the Internet on a daily basis (MPFS, 2016)
Internet forums belong to the many social media offerings that are defined by the provision and access of information for and by the general public, including the exchange and establishment of relationships (Schmidt and Taddicken, 2017)
Chemistry needs to be part of it to enrich students’ views on the world they live in (Sevian and Bulte, 2015). Such digital and social media education cannot end with merely consuming media or reflecting upon media content

Summary

Introduction

In today’s developed countries, almost every teenager between the ages of twelve and nineteen has a personal, Internet-enabled mobile phone and uses the Internet on a daily basis (MPFS, 2016). This is why education needs to provide students with critical-thinking skills so that they can safely function in the digital world (Bitkom, 2016). Users require skills allowing them to deal with digital information safely, critically, and responsibly. They need a fundamental understanding of how different media offerings work. Internet forums belong to the many social media offerings that are defined by the provision and access of information for and by the general public, including the exchange and establishment of relationships (Schmidt and Taddicken, 2017)

Methods

Results

Conclusion