Chemical Literacy: What Does This Mean to Scientists and School Teachers?

The ongoing reform in science education sets the attainment of "scientific literacy for all" as its main goal, and therefore, teaching high school chemistry should address this aim. Traditionally, scientists from academia were dominant in determining the content and structure of high school chemistry courses. Teachers were then usually involved only in later activities based on syllabi conceived by these scientists. In this study we let chemistry teachers be the main partners in the process of defining chemical literacy. The extent of agreement with the teachers' definition of chemical literacy was evaluated by presenting it to members of the Israeli Chemical Society. A consensus of opinion was reached regarding specific concepts, the context, and learning skills that were suggested by those who defined it. However, the results indicate that scientists perceive "chemical literacy" as reflecting only a few core chemical ideas, whereas teachers perceive it in a broader context that links chemistry with other disciplines and introduces applications of chemical knowledge.