The Effects of Inquiry-Based Instruction on Elementary Teaching Majors' Chemistry Content Knowledge

Abstract

Although science educators have suggested that preservice elementary teaching majors should take chemistry content courses using inquiry-based methods, many college chemistry professors believe that these courses are merely “watered down” versions of traditional, lecture-based, introductory chemistry courses. This study compared the chemistry content knowledge of elementary teaching majors enrolled in an inquiry-based physical science course and science majors enrolled in traditional, lecture-based, introductory chemistry courses. The results showed that for the five chemistry concepts reported here, elementary teaching majors developed chemistry content knowledge that was comparable to that of students enrolled in the traditional, lecture-based, introductory chemistry courses. These results suggest that elementary teaching majors would be better prepared by taking inquiry-based science courses as part of their preservice preparation instead of traditional, lecture-based courses.