Abstract
Meeting the challenge of modern global chemistry education requires collaborations from many different actors. Here, we report the development of culturally relevant computer-based lessons on VSEPR and unit cells designed specifically for implementation in the unique environment of East African high schools. The lesson plans use software more commonly employed by materials science graduate students, here repurposed for the high school chemistry classroom. The lesson plans were successfully piloted in local schools, indicating their potential for wide impact. The complete lesson plans are provided for free. The careful design of the lessons based on specific environmental factors through multifaceted contributors suggests a model of collaboration that could be useful in many other contexts.
Highlights
Africa produces only a small fraction of the world’s scientific research, the scientific publication output rate is growing faster in Africa than in any other world region.[1]
Our research question becomes the following: Can we take advantage of all these factors to create relevant and impactful chemistry lesson plans for East Africa? As a multinational and diverse team, we attempted to create such lesson plans, and we evaluated their effectiveness in pilot field tests at Msalato Secondary School in Dodoma City, Tanzania
We were pleased to find that the developed lesson plans were well-received in classrooms in Tanzania
Summary
Africa ( sub-Saharan Africa) produces only a small fraction of the world’s scientific research, the scientific publication output rate is growing faster in Africa than in any other world region.[1]. Secondary Chemistry Education in Kenya and Tanzania. We take a moment to explore the local context for chemistry education in Africa with focus on local curricula and environment, in Kenya and Tanzania in particular. In Kenya, high school computer laboratories are nearly universal there and have been for some time, and traditionally, they have been used for computer technology literacy purposes. Kenya has been energetic in promoting technology in its public education system in recent years; beyond the long-standing high school computer laboratories, it has introduced initiatives to provide tablets to every elementary school student.[5] even without such official initiatives, Kenyan students are becoming more and more familiar with technology earlier and earlier in their lives, due to increasing globalization and increasing affluence in
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