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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2001  > February  >
In the Classroom
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Curriculum Alignment Projects: Toward Developing a Need to Know
K. David Pinkerton
Smoky Hill High School, 16100 E. Smoky Hill Road, Aurora, CO 80015
Cover
February 2001
Vol. 78 No. 2
p. 198
Abstract
This study investigated means of designing a high school chemistry curriculum. A Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP) was used to coordinate one semester (18 weeks) of activities. CAPs are long-term, multiple-approach design and construction projects that provide students a concrete task to accomplish, rather than an abstract theme to appreciate. Topics were selected for their potential contribution to students' success on the CAP, not because the topics were coming up next in a textbook. One particular CAP, Bicarbonate Squeeze Play, is described in detail. After one cycle of CAPs, student motivation began to change from extrinsic to intrinsic; achievement on objective measures was holding steady; students' abilities to craft and carry out long-term plans for complex projects were improving; and the teacher was learning how to design curriculum that fostered students' need to know.
More Information
*  Citation
 Pinkerton, K. David. J. Chem. Educ. 2001 78 198.
*  Keywords
 Curriculum; Inquiry-Based / Discovery Method; Introductory / High School Chemistry; Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 December 22, 2000
April 14, 2005
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