| The high school chemistry curriculum rarely makes connections to other scientific disciplines. As a result, students fail to see the relevance of Chemistry to other areas of study.Students' prior knowledge was assessed with a pretest. Student success was evaluated by their performance on laboratory activities, a hands-on assessment, and an objective unit test. Results of these assessments indicate the students made connections to other scientific disciplines and were successful in applying learned concepts to new problems. Also, results suggest that students function and learn better in inquiry activities that provide some structure.There are three purposes for including this unit on Biochemistry in the Chemistry curriculum: (1) to make the chemistry course more interdisciplinary, (2) to make the laboratory experience more inquiry based and (3) to make the course relevant to all students. |
