Experiences and Reflections about Teaching Atomic Structure in a Jigsaw Classroom in Lower Secondary School Chemistry Lessons

This article describes and discusses an example of how atomic structure can be taught in lower secondary chemistry using a modified jigsaw-classroom method. The lesson was taught in grades 9 and 10 (age range 15–17 years) chemistry in 13 learning groups with a total of 313 students in various grammar, middle, and comprehensive schools in Germany. The written evaluation of the lesson focused on determining the students’ opinions on the teaching methods that were used. Emphasis was on gathering information from the students’ viewpoint. Did the students think that these methods could make science lessons more attractive? Could these methods help to promote more active student learning, cooperative learning, or communicative and social abilities? Additional data that were derived from a cognitive test and teacher feedback are also presented. The results of the study show that teaching methods like the jigsaw classroom have potential to improve students’ attitude towards science. The results may also indicate that it is appropriate to demand that student-oriented and cooperative-learning methods be used more often in secondary level science education.