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The purpose of this study is to develop a set of behavioral objectives for the Second Year Chemistry Course in Kuwait Secondary Schools. This set of behavioral objectives will help school teachers to choose their activities, teaching methods, questions, and evaluation procedures; it will be useful in the preparation and use of behavioral objectives in their other courses. As a conclusion, the Chemical Education Material Study (CHEMS) appears more beneficial than the traditional chemistry course by its effect on student achievement and the stimulation of the cognitive abilities such as application and analysis processes. The present Kuwaiti chemistry course appears more organized than previous courses and the movement is toward the modern approach. Use of behavioral objectives appears more effective than the use of general objectives (or no objectives) in the area of students' achievements and attitudes, in the area of course content, and organization of complex cognitive processes. Recommendations for improvement of the Kuwaiti chemistry course and for further studies on behavioral objectives are listed.

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of concept map assessments in freshman level general chemistry courses. Two strategies were employed in this study. The first strategy involved the creation of a web based concept mapping program capable of scoring concept maps drawn by students. The second strategy involved comparing different methods of scoring concept maps. Students enrolled in web based general chemistry course drew concept maps using the web based Concept Map Assessment Tool, CMAT. The reliability of the automated scoring in the CMAT program was tested by scoring the concept maps created in the CMAT program by hand. The results of the study indicated that scoring concept maps by hand was the same as the automated scoring of concept maps in the CMAT program. Two characteristics of concept maps serve as the basis for scoring methods. The relational character of a concept map is defined as the correctness of the propositions in the concept map. The structural character of a concept map is defined as the key features of the map, such as branches, long chains or intersecting points. The scoring method used in the CMAT program scores the relational aspects of a concept map. In this study, a second relational scoring method was used to score the concept maps drawn by students using the CMAT program, and the two sets of scores were compared. A novel structural scoring method, the Structural Complexity Index (SCI), was developed compared to the relational scoring approach of the CMAT program. The results of this study found the two relational scoring methods to score concept maps similarly under certain conditions. The SCI was found to produce a different score for concept maps than the relational scoring method employed by CMAT. / text

<p dir="ltr">Student attitudes towards chemistry are a contributing factor to their success in chemistry courses and retention in STEMM in higher education. In the last decade, STEMM attrition rates have been an area of concern in the United States. Research in K12 classrooms has demonstrated that culturally relevant pedagogies (CRP) can improve student learning and attitudes toward STEMM. CRP consists of instructional practices and lessons that connect with students’ cultural backgrounds, experiences, and interests. However, few studies on these practices address long term improvements or treatments in a higher education setting. Integration of ethnoscience in course material is a CRP strategy that utilizes cultural systems of knowledge in relation to coursework. This strategy is now an area of interest in the field of chemistry education. This study uses an action research methodology to integrate ethnochemistry into a large, multicultural, first-year general chemistry course and evaluate the impact on student attitudes towards chemistry.</p>