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I wish to congratulate Eric Scerri for his brilliant article (1) on some philosophical questions concerning chemistry. Beyond Herron’s papers cited in Scerri’s article, this Journal has also published the influential Bodner paper about constructivism where the tenet that “knowledge is constructed in the mind of the learner” is defended (2). For many teachers, problems with constructivism arise not from the psychological premise “the mind is actively involved in the acquisition of the knowledge”, but from the epistemological conclusion “every construction of personal meaning is acceptable”. If sometimes it is true that “Teaching and learning are not synonymous: we can teach, and teach well, without having the student learn” (2), we know that most of the time students learn and learn in the proper way from our teaching. I think that I have a duty to teach to my students according to the accepted scientific theory; and I know that I can do that more effectively if I use active learning methods. When I was a student, a few of my teachers were quite bad; they had no interest in what students were learning, and one of them was not even able to balance redox equations. In contrast many constructivist teachers are very dedicated and care about their students: as a student I would prefer one of them to one of the ones I had! If we accept that our task and duty is to prepare our students to the best of current possibilities, we have to make changes in what we teach, following the suggestions included in the report of the ACS Committee on Professional Training (3). Some Ph.D. chemists employed in industry are dissatisfied with the present program, not so evidently with the way we teach. A question important for all of us, no matter on what side of the “divide” we are, is: How is it possible to address the gap between pedagogical rhetoric and the reality of industry? Literature Cited- Scerri, Eric J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 468-477.
- Bodner, G. M. J. Chem. Educ. 1986, 63, 873-878.
- ACS Committee on Professional Training, Graduate Education in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2002.
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