Getting Involved: Context-Based Learning in Chemistry Education Jiirgen Menthe and Ika Parchmann Abstract ‘This chapter reviews influential theories of motivation and interest development to support the argument that emotional and affective aspects are crucial for attitudes toward and learning of chemistry in schools, Context-based learning approaches such as the German project Chemie im Kontext are reflected from the perspective of their ability to foster students” interest and motivation. The “RIASEC framework” is presented as a structure to design context-based teaching modules that match students’ imterests, Based on this framework, three examples of modules describe how different areas of interest can be explored in order to connect content knowledge to personal or societal questions, Empirical findings are discussed for one study investigating students’ attitudes as well as their application of content knowledge. The results showed that using personally relevant contexts had mostly positive effects an students’ motivation and interest: however, there were less satisfying results regarding students" application of content knowledge. This study suggests that, in some cases, an emotional identification with a topic might restrain the application of science concepts, e.g., in decision making. Rec- ommendations for further research are proposed 1 Introduction Both positive affective dimensions and a persisting interest in science and science subjects (Krapp & Prenzel, 2011; Taconis & Kessels, 2009) are regarded as pro- moters of deeper conceptual understanding (Alexander, Kulikowich, & Schulze. 1994), It is therefore assumed that these factors also result in a higher number of students choosing science-related careers (Hazari, Sonnert, Sadler, & Shanahan, 2010; Osbome, Simon, é& Collins, 2003; Schreiner & Sjoberg, 2007). Especially J. Menthe (2) Faculty of Education, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany e-mail; juergen.menthe@ uni-hamburg.de 1, Parchmann IPN Leibniz Institute for e-mail: parchmann? ipn.uni nee and Mathematics Education, Kiel, German; el de © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 st M, Kahweei, M, Orgill (eds.), Affective Dimensions in Chemistry Educaiion, DOL 10,1007/978-3-662-45085-7_352 J. Menthe and 1. Parchmann, regarding the first assumption, Pintrich (1999) eriticized that conceptual ehange approaches overrated cognitive aspeets fora long time and therefore neglected their affective counterparts. Pintrich, Marx, und Boyle (1993) claimed that a conceptual change from daily-life explanations toward more scientific concepts was not solely a question of logic or consistency but also one of emotions, A student might like or dislike a scientific explanation, which might interfere with existing “entrenched beliefs” (Chinn & Brewer, 1998) or prejudices (Menthe, 2006). Such interferences can support or hinder further developments of conceptual understanding and, therefore, need to be considered in learning processes A number of publications still criticize the neglect of affective motivation, or interest it affective aspects be better integrated into science or, more specifically. chemistry teaching and leaming processes? Approaches such as science-technology-saciety (STS, ¢.g., Aikenhead, 2006), context-based learning (CBL, Gilbert, 2006; Kin; 2009), or socio-scientific issues (SSI, ¢.g., Kolsio & Ratcliffe, 2007; Marks & 2009; Rateliffe & Grace, 2003) connect science concepts and principles of inve: tigation to the students’ real life and thereby claim to link cognitive and affective goals and preconditions. Positive effects on students* interest have been reported especially for context- based learning approaches (Bennett, Lubben, & Hogarth, 2007; Nenowig & Waddington, 2005; Parchmann et al., 2006). Those effects can be connected to theories of interest and motivation that identify aspects which are explicitly taken into consideration in CBL approaches. 2 Frameworks of Motivation, Interest, and Attitudes as a Theoretical Foundation for Context-Based Learning Ind jon, the general frameworks of interest and motivation are depicted Their relation to the design of context-based learning environments will be addressed at the end of each subsection and then again with more details in the third section of this paper. 2.1 Motivation What constitutes the intention or the desire to engage in something? How do students’ attitudes, beliefs, values, and goals influence such intentions? Thes crucial questions are researched by motivational theories. A very influential moti- vation theory is the self-determination theory of Deci und Ryan (1985, 2000). In this theory, extrinsic motivation is related to external factors (e.g, the desire to haveGetting Involved: Context-Based Learning in Chemistry Educatis 53 a good grade), whereas intrinsically motivated behavior is performed for its own sake, based on interest and enjoyment, The distinction between mastery versus performance goal orientation (and between different performance goal orientations) is related to these two kinds of motivation (Harackiewicz, Barron, Tauer, Carter, & Elliot, 2000), Mastery and performance goal orientations can coexist, for example, influenced by a certain situation or the school environment (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2012). Intrinsically motivated behavior is performed voluntarily, without external incentives, and is autotelic (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). However, different states of motivation can be distinguished. Whereas, in the former conceptualizations, extrin- sic and intrinsic motivation had been seen as two diverse poles, Deci und Ryan (1985) described steps between purely intrinsic and purely extrinsic motivation. ‘Those steps can also be understood as the development of more stable and long- lasting attitudes and interests and are, therefore, closely connected, In their influential self-determination theory, Deci and Ryan developed the basic psychological needs concept, an “organismic theory” to explain why certain kinds Of activities are motivating (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Krapp & Prenzel, 2011). They identified three basic needs as highly important for motivation: the perception of autonomy, of competence, and of social embeddedness. For school education, Prenzel (1997) extended these needs by three additional factors: the perception of relevance, the interest of the educator, and the quality of instruction In context-based learning, the perception of relevance is given special consid- eration (Nentwig, Parchmann, Griisel, Ralle, & Demuth, 2007). For chemistry education, most topics can be made relevant by highlighting the chemistry applied in daily-life products and processes, such as batteries, clothes, or societal debates about topics like climate change. By emphasizing the relevance of a topic for the student in different ways, CBL aims at fostering mastery goal orientation, which is claimed to be supportive for learning processes (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 20112) Hence, comtext-based learning aims at fostering intrinsic motivation as a bridge toward the development of individual interests. 2.2 Interest Interest can be differentiated as situational or personal interest, with personal interest being described as “stable evaluative orientation towards a certain domain” (Schiefele, 1999, p. 258). Situational interest is conceptualized as a temporary state which is elicited by specific features of a topic or learning situation, More elabo- rated taxonomies, including an overview of aspects that have been found to raise interest in learning, can be found in Hidi und Renninger (2006). Schraw und Lehman (2001), and Schiefele (1999). One fundamental framework is the “person-object theory of interest” (Krapp, 2002) which assumes that interest results from an interaction between a person and an object and further assumes that this interaction is correlated with emotional asa4 J, Menthe and 1, Parchmann well as cognitive aspects (Schiefele, 2009). The person-object theory picks up the dichotomy of situational and personal interests and explains how a situational interest can become a personal interest over time due to positive cognitive (impor- tance) and emotional (well-being) experiences. School in general and therefore also chemistry lessons have the important role of supporting children to broaden their view and of developing different and persistent interests (Krapp & Prenzel, 2011), Regarding chemistry, fields of personal interest can be related to topic areas like acids and bases or fuels, to contexts like daily-life habits or societal debates, and to activities such as experimental investigations and professional perspect ‘An approach linking personal and situational interest in different steps is the “four-phase model of interest development” (Hidi & Renninger, 2006), This model distinguishes phases of triggered situational interest, of maintained situational interest, of emerging (less-developed) individual interest, and finally of a well- developed individual interest (ibid.). The model conveys a similar understanding of interest as the person-object theory (for differences, see ibid., p. L18f) but differ- entiates between the role of affect (important for the early phases of interest development) and cognitive evaluations due to prior experience and knowledge (important in the later phases of interest development, ibid., p. 121) Although research has been done about interest in other disciplines, little research has been done in the domain of science, A large study carried out Germany characterized interest in science as an interplay of an interest in topics or content, contexts, and activities. Based on this structure, differences between boys and girls or between groups of students, for example, were identified and highlighted (Haeussler, Hoffman, Langeheine, Rost, & Sievers, 1998), Boys showed higher interests in physical topics, while girls had higher levels of interest in biological topics. Three groups of students could be identified as well: a rather small group showing high interest in all contexts related to science, a second group being interested in societal and environmental debates, and a third group showing high interests in applications of science. Another differentiated model is the “RIASEC structure,” developed by Holland (1997). This structure combines six dimensions of personal interest and analogous areas of professions, represented by the six letters RIASEC (Table 1) In the original model, the science domain was anly connected to the dimensions “realistic” and “investigative.” However, in an ongoing research project (Dierks, Hoeffler, & Parchmann, 2014), we have successfully ed all dimensions to related activities (as described in Table |). This adapted model allows an even more sophisticated analysis of students’ interest in science-related contexts and activities, as presented below. ‘Context-based learning has shown to have positive impacts on students’ interest (Bennett et al., 2007; Nentwig & Waddington, 2005). Following the person-object theory, CBL environments link the subject-matter content to the students’ experi- ences and personal interests outside the classroom. The resulting interplay between the students and the learning objects is often broader than in more abstract approaches. Students will have different relationships to topics such as food, clothes, or their environment than to pure chemistry arcas such as halogens, es. scienGetting Involved: Context-Based Learning in Chem ry Education 57 expectancies and values means that success can be perceived in different ways, for example, in relation to a given norm that is related to the development of a deeper understanding. However, as other research suggests, it can also be perceived as a wish to behave in accordance with the expectations of peers or a person's self image (Hannover & Kessels, 2004; Taconis & Kessels, 2009), The contextualization of chemistry content in CBL aims to increase task value by making the connection of the content with personal interest and (future) utility more obvious for the students. Following the expectancy-value-model, context- based learning should therefore have an influence on the students’ choice of future jence activities (Bennett et al., 2007) 3 Transformation of Theory and Research into Practice: Examples from the Context-Based Approach Chemie im Kontext Chemie im Kontext was developed in Germany between 1999 and 2008, with the support of the German Ministry of Education (BMBF) and the participating Ger- man federal states, The process of development was symbiotic: educational researchers and teachers from different schools cooperated in “learning communi- ties” (Parchmann et al., 2006) and adapted the framework of Chemie im Kontext for different state syllabi and school systems. Modules were developed and tested, and the different learning communities exchanged experiences and material between the different parts of Germany. The products were used as a foundation to develop textbooks, teacher guides, reports, and papers (¢.g., Demuth, Grisel, Parchmann, & Ralle, 2008; Demuth, Parchmann, & Ralle, 2006; Nenbwig et al., 2007; Parchmann cl al., 2006). Accompanying research studies have investigated different aspects affected by the implementation of the Chemie im Kontext approach, such as the students” interest and conceptual development (Demuth et al. 2008: Parchmann et al., 2006;), the implementation and transfer processes (Demuth et al., 2008), ar the influence of attitudes and prejudices (Menthe, 2006, see below). Based on a study carried out in one federal state. a positive finding was that students indeed perceived their chemistry lessons as more rele’ id effective regarding the learning of cross-curticular competencies, applicable knowledge. and the under- standing of basic concepts. This finding became evident in a comparison with other students learning similar topics (Parchmann & L. und the CHiK team, 2009). However, we have to consider that effects were verse on a Class level, On the one hand, for some groups, motivation really increased, whereas, for others, it stayed more of less the same and even dropped at the beginning for some classes. The same is reported for cognitive learning outcomes: while CBL students outperformed athers in some studies, other studies offered less coherent outcomes in this area (Bennett et al,, 2007; Parchmann et al., 2006; Taasoobshirazi & Carr, 2008; see also Fechner, van Vorst, Kilbach, & Sumfleth, 2015). Therefore, more38 J, Menthe and 1. Parchmann Table 2 RIASEC dimensions related to content perspectives and activitis RIASEC dimensions Activities within CBL modules Realistic Mimicry of technical procedures, mensurements, und analyses of data by given procedures Investigative | Analyses af data and literature to create new ideas, arguments, or produets; research of new products Anistic Presentation of findings in creative ways (pesters, exhibitions, articles, aulvertisement) Sueial Engage in socio-scientific-issues; discuss political decisions, relation to personal and general welfare, peer debates Enterprising | Develop project plans; explore relations between research, industry and society, chances, and risks af technology Conventional | Data storage, document information is necessary in order to determine which specific aspects and approaches of CBL foster—or fail to faster—positive affective and cognitive out- comes in chemistry and other subjects. The frameworks on motivation, interest, and attitudes informed the design of the Chemie im Kontext project and have been used as reflective tools in further studies (Nentwig et al., 2007: Parchmann et al., 2006). Referring to the theoretical back- ground explored above, questions like the following had been discussed during the developmental process and the accompanying research: How can we design modules to enable students’ perception of autonomy, competence, social embeddedness, and relevance? (—+ Students participate in the phase of planning by developing their own questions. They can choose between different activities in group work. The content is embedded in different personal, societal, and professional contexts.) How ean we link topies, activities, and contexts to build connections to students” different personal interests? (+ The design and combination of modules consider different dimensions; see Table 2 for the RLASEC dimensions.) How can we highlight values of learning chemistry, stimulating positive atti- tudes and “affective memories”? (— The design of the modules relates chemical content to different decision-making processes—see example below.) To take different personal interests of students into consideration, the RIASEC model offers a suitable framework (Table 2), While CBL modules offer connec- tions to almost all dimensions (see examples below), specific tasks and activities enable students to get engaged according to their personal interests, In the following paragraphs, three examples of modules describe the adaption of theories and frameworks on motivation, interest, and attitudes in further details. The topies have also been explored by other CBL approaches, as summarized in Nentwig and Waddington (2007), for example.Getting Involved: Context-Based Learn iry Education 59 2 in Cher 3.1 Example 1: Fuels for Our Future: A Topie Not Only for Boys! Fucls, both for combustion and clectrochemical engines, are an important topic in many chemistry curricula around the world. The basic concepts needed to explain the functionality of fuels are the redox concept (or more general the concept of chemical reactions) and the energy concept. Relevant studies, however, such as ROSE showed that especially female students show little interest in these topics (Holstermann & Bogeholz, 2007; Jenkins & Nelson, 2005), For the development of Chemie im Kontext modules, we took these results into consideration and broad- ened the perspectives around the given topic. The modules not only consider technical and chemical aspects but also include social, societal, and economic enterprising perspectives. The range of activities involves students’ ideas (auton- omy), group work, and links to out-of-school activities and relevant political and economic questions (social embeddedness). Different levels of tasks and areas of competence [such as subject-matter knowledge, scientific processes, communica- jon, or evaluation, following the outline of the German standards (KMK, 2004)] aim at supporting the perception of competence for a range of students. ‘The structure of a module about the hydrogen car is briefly presented in Fig. |. ‘The content knowledge deals with redox reactions and the design and function of fuel cells. The students thereby learn about a technique that is already more than 100 years old but has only recently become promising again for societal reasons: the growing demand for mobility cannot be fulfilled anymore because of the shortage of crude oil and fossil fuels in the future, During the exploration of the topic, the students become aware that they cannot decide against or in favor of this technique based solely on chemical knowledge. Other components about environmental considerations, prices, and supply or [ Phase of contact Personal ‘contac Debate: Do we want hydrogen cars on our straats? relevance, I Phase of curiosity and planning Identity Mind Map: Criteria for investigation? ‘important $e questions 1 Phase of elaboration Inquiry, cycle; types and function of fuel cells results, Presentation & discussion: evaluation? presentation 1 = Reflection, Phase of deepening and connecting discussion, Teacher student-talk: physical constants personal application: onoray uso in othor contexts Felevance Fig. 1 Chentie ion Konext structure of the module on hydrogen cars and fuel cells (upper secondary level)60 J. Menthe and 1. Parehmann demands for the users need to be taken into account as well, offering links to different RLASEC dimensions (e.g., enterprising, social, investigative) and related students’ interests, concerns, and attitudes. Career perspectives can be highlighted both in industry and research but also in education, public counseling, or infra- structure planning (e.g., for the supply of hydrogen). In summary, the module combines basic chemical concepts with societal demands and a variety of personal interest areas. Moreover, the module offers an opportunity to discuss and reflect on aititudes and arguments from science and other domains. Hence, the chemical content is connected to personal feelings and attitudes (risk, environmental issues). Consequently, both affective dimensions and cognitive variables have been taken into consideration 3.2 Example 2: Carbon Dioxide, The Greenhouse Effect, and Climate Change Climate change is very prominent in the media and in political discussions. However, media reports often show a lack of understanding and a mistaken explanation of its underlying effects, especially regarding scientific concepts and the relevance and barriers of model-based predictions, Following the criteria of interest, motivation, and attitudes, the topic offers a promising context for the development of a better understanding about scientific processes in the atmosphere and the nature of scientific investigation and evidence. For the sub-module about carbon dioxide and its uptake by the oceans, chemical equilibrium has been chosen as the content to develop. Figure 2 shows the interplay of contextual aspects and the development of this basic concept. Again, different interests can be approached by highlighting the different context perspectives: while some students might be interested in the underlying scientific investigations, others might want to know more about global political decision: ‘The module points out for all thase aspects that chemical and seience knowledge is necessary and should be the foundation for decision-making processes in politics, industrial developments, and personal behavior. However, students also experience Carbon balances, carbon eyele, uptake of the oceans solubility of CO; in water Conditions of the oceans influences on solubility Fig, 2 Interplay of contextual aspects and the basic concept of the chemi ibrium ‘Approaches for storage Uptake and transportation systems, equilibria WALA Influences on equiGetting Involved: Context-Based Learning in Chemistry Education ol that science knowledge on its own is not enough for this: it has to be connected to other domains and it is guided by norms and ethical issues as well. In summary, the module links personal interests and attitudes with a scientific understanding and thereby raises the level of argumentation both in class and also outside the classroom. Cognitive understanding is the foundation for such debates and is applied on a “need-ia-know basis.” 3.3 Example 3: Tap Water or Mineral Waiter: Decision Making and Attitudes This unit focuses on the idea of combining necessary chemistry content with a relevant personal decision: should you prefer tap water or bottled mineral water for drinking? The unit is based on teaching materials developed by two teachers (T. Guenkel and W. Muenzinger) who designed a sequence with lab work and ful information framed by the abovementioned question. The content of the unit is based on the students’ interests, as they pose the research questions and organize the work. Various experiments (e.g., How do minerals or CO» get into water? How can we measure the amount of minerals? Which water tastes better?) and informa tion (Which minerals are healthy? What does the information on the labels mean?) are offered. The activities allow a high degree of autonomy for the students throughout the lessons and build upon their personal interests to enhance motiva- tion, The unit ends with a role-play where students are divided into groups (e.g, nutritional advisers, producer of mineral water, local water supplier, etc.). In these groups, they relate chemistry knowledge and the given position of the interest group they have chosen. In a symposium, they discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of water. In @ pre/postiest design (before the unit and after lab work and role-play), all students were asked to give a personal repart of their choice between the two kinds of water and to provide reasons for their choice, Decision-making processes were analyzed by the qualitative content analysis method (Mayring, 20(00). The aim was to clarify the extent to which students use science knowledge in their reasoning on ientific issues (Aikenhead, 2006; Kolsta & Ratcliffe, 2007). The literature shows that students often make little use of newly acquired scientific evidence, even if tests prove that the content itself was learned during the lessons (Kortland, 2001; Ratcliffe, 1997). In our view, that might be due to the interference of emotional and affective aspects of a topic. A detailed discussion of the empirical data is given elsewhere (Menthe, 2006, 2012), For the purpose of this article, two findings are parti L. We only found a very small number of students changing their opinion toward lap water or mineral water during the series of lessons even in cases where the students* arguments were not supported by—or even were in conflict with—theot J, Menthe and I, Parchmann in science in the short term and/or in the long run (remembrance after school science)? A third aspect is the application of school science knowledge. Are the abovementioned examples of an interference of scientific content and daily-life beliefs replicable in other contexts? Is this un indication of a general problem of content-based learning approaches that needs to be addressed’? When attitudes, beliefs, interests, and motivational aspects such as goal orientation are considered as preconditions and starting points for learning in a similar way as pre-knowledge and daily-life concepts, how do they interact or interfere with those cognitive variables? How can learning modules be successfully designed in a way that addresses both affective and cognitive preconditions in order to improve student understanding and to raise students’ interest, motivation, and attitudes related to the content? Future research can offer more answers to these questions! References Aikenhead, G. S$. (2006), Science education for everyday life: Evidence-based practice. New York: Teachers College Press. Alexander, P. A., Kulikowich, J. M., & Schulze, S. K. (1994). 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