CHANGING CONCEPTION OF TEACHING HELPSIN HIGH-SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS

BY RALPH E. DUNBARNorth Dakota Agricultural College, Forgo, N. D.

Educational progress and improved methods of teachingshould be reflected in the type and amount of teaching helpsincluded in representative high-school chemistry textbooks pub-lished over a period of several years. The present study wasundertaken to determine what teaching helps show a noticeablevariation as to occurrence; what teaching helps have remainedconstant as to occurrence; and what teaching helps have notice-ably increased or decreased as to occurrence in recent years.Simmons1 reports a similar investigation of sixteen generalscience textbooks, published over a period of twenty-four years.For ease of interpretation, the twenty-four years covered inthis previous study were divided into four equal periods. Gen-eral science textbooks of four publishers were used for eachperiod. A tabulation was made of sixteen distinct types of teach-ing helps revealing the different types of aids for each period,as well as indicating the total frequency of occurrence for allperiods.

In the present study a tabulation has been made of twenty-five representative high-school chemistry textbooks, so selectedthat the copyright date for one only occurs during each of thepast twenty-five years, 1913 to 1937 inclusive. Obviously, bysuch a plan, it has been impossible to include many leadingtexts of these several years, since only one was selected foreach, year, and frequently several books were copyrighted dur-ing the same year. Likewise, later editions of many of thesetextbooks have since been published, but these older editionshave been included as being representative of the several yearsinvolved. No chrmistry textbook by any author or combinationof authors has been included more than once in this investiga-tion, regardless of the number of copyrights or editions involved.The following twenty-five chemistry textbooks, designed pri-marily for high-school use, have been included in this study.Kahlenberg, Louis, and Hart, Edwin B., Chemistry and Its Relations to

Daily Life, The Macmillan Company, New York City (1913).Blanchard, Arthur A., and Wade, Frank B., Foundations of Chemistry,American Book Co., New York City (1914).1 Simmons, Maitland P., "Changing Conceptions of Teaching Helps in General Science Textbooks /’

Science Education, 20, 211-14 (1936).

534

TEACHING HELPS 535

Irwin, Frederick C., Rivett, Byron J., and Tatlock, Orett, Elementaryand Applied Chemistry, Row, Peterson and Company, New York Citv(1915).

Tottingham, William Edward, and Ince, Joseph Waite, Chemistry of theFarm and Home, Webb Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn. (1916).

Snell, John Ferguson, Elementary Household Chemistry, The MacmillanCompany, New York City (1917).

Dull, Charles E., Essentials of Modern Chemistry, Henry Holt and Com-pany, New York City (1918).

Smith, Alexander, Intermediate Text Book of Chemistry, The Century Co.,New York City (1919).

Black, N. Henry, and Conant, James Bryant, Practical Chemistry, TheMacmillan Company, New York City (1920).

Willaman, John J., Vocational Chemistry for Students of Agriculture andHome Economics, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pa. (1921).

Newell, Lyman C., Practical Chemistry, D. C. Heath & Co., New YorkCity (1922).

Cook, Charles Gilpin, Chemistry in Everyday Life, D. Appleton and Com-pany, New York City (1923).

Gray, Carl William, Sandifur, Claude W., and Hanna, Howard J., Funda-mentals of Chemistry, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York City(1924).

Dinsmore, Ernest L., Chemistry for Secondary Schools, F. M. AmbroseCompany, New York City (1925).

Vivian, Alfred, Everyday Chemistry, American Book Company, New YorkCity (1926).

Holmes, Harry N., and Mattern, Louis W., Elements of Chemistry, TheMacmillan Company, New York City (1927).

Emery, Frederic B., Downey, Elzy F., Davis, Roscoe E., and Boynton,Charles E., Chemistry in Everyday Life, Lyons and Carnahan, NewYork City (1928).

Fletcher, Gustav L., Smith, Herbert 0., and Harrow, Benjamin, BeginningChemistry, American Book Company, New York City (1929).

McPherson, William, Henderson, William Edwards, and Fowler, GeorgeWinegan, Chemistry for Today, Ginn and Company, New York City(1930).

Hessler, John C., The First Year of Chemistry, Benj. H. Sanborn & Co.,^New York City (1931).

Timm, John Arrend, An Introduction to Chemistry, A Pandemic Text,McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York City (1932).

Bruce, George Howard, High School Chemistry, World Book Company,Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York (1933).

Bradbury, Robert H., A First Book in Chemistry, D. Appleton-CenturyCompany, Inc., New York City (1934).

Jaffe, Bernard, New World of Chemistry, Silver, Burdett and Company,New York City (1935).

Biddle, Harry C., and Bush, George L., Dynamic Chemistry, RandMcNally & Company, New York City (1936).

Brownlee, Raymond B., Fuller, Robert W., Hancock, William J., Sohon,Michael D., and Whitsit, Jesse E., First Principles of Chemistry, Allynand Bacon, New York City (1937).

These twenty-five high-school chemistry textbooks are theproduct of twenty separate and distinct publishers and arebelieved to be a representative sampling of the average texts

536SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

of the past twenty-five years. From a careful examination ofthe same, a tabulation has been made of twenty-eight distincttypes of teaching helps. This information has been arranged inthe order of frequency in Table I.

TABLE i

TEACHING HELPS OCCURRING IN HIGH-SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS

Author of Textbook

Copyright Date

TEACHING HELPS

2.Tables............3. Topic Surveys.....4. Key Words........5. Key Statements...6. Demonstrations....

9. Problems.........

12. Atomic WeightTable in Cover....

15. Large and SmallType in Text......

17. Review Suggestions.

19. Glossaries.........20. Metric Units in

22. Spectra in Cover...23. Periodic Table in

24. Solubilities in Cover25. Valence Table in

27. Electrochemical Se-ries in Cover......

28. Physical Constantsof Gases in Cover...

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TEACHING HELPS 5.37

reference material, usually in tabulated form, in an Appendixnear the end of the book. In fact, the frequency and variation

TABLE nTEACHING HELPS OCCURRING IN APPENDICES AND SIMILAR PAGES

Author of Textbook

Copyright Date

1. The Metric System.2. Vapor Pressure

Water............3. Solubility of Solids..4. Physical Constants

of Elements.......5. Physical Constants

of Gases..........6. Bibliography......7. Thermometer Scales8. Atomic Weight

Tables............9. Gas Laws.........

10. Composition ofFoods............

11. Physical Constantsof Compounds.....

12. E.M.F. Series-Metals. ...........

13. Solubility of Gases.14. Glossary..........15. Composition-Alloys.16. Apparatus and

Chemical Lists.....17. Valence of Elements18. Mathematical Aids.19. Important Temper-

atures ............20. Scale of Hardness..21. General Rules for

Solubility.........22. Names of Common

Chemicals.........23. Correction of Bar-

ometer Readings...24. Heats of Formation25. Nobel Prize Winners26. Logarithms........2 7. Number of Miscel-

laneous Items Ap-pearing but Once...

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538 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

of this type of material in twenty-two of the twenty-five text-books studied made it seem advisable to make a more detailedstudy of this type of material. In two more of the twenty-fivetextbooks such tabulated data was assembled on extra pagesnear the end of the book without being specifically designatedas an "Appendix/5 Thus a total of twenty-four out of thetwenty-five texts contain valuable reference material for teacherand student use, assembled in a separate Appendix or its equiv-alent, near the end of the book. This practice is surely to becommended, and the amount and frequency of such materialhas remained suprisingly consistent throughout the twenty-fiveyears. A tabulation of this type of material is included in TableII. This tabulation includes both that type of reference materiallisted under the title of "Appendix^ and also similar materialincluded in extra pages outside the main body of the two addi-tional texts. The wide variation in the nature of a portion ofthis material makes certain condensations in this tabulationadvisable for brevity^s sake. For instance, there are thirty-oneitems that appear but once in all of the twenty-five texts in-cluded in. this study. Rather than list each by complete title,such single items have been assembled under one heading asthe final entry in Table II. The prevalence of atomic weighttables, periodic tables, and similar items included within thecover pages of the texts have been included under suitableheadings in Table I only.An examination of Table I indicates that pictures, tables,

topic surveys, key words and key statements, each appearingwith a frequency of twenty-five, have been used consistentlyduring the past twenty-five years. Pictures offer a convenientand effective means of readily giving definite impressions. Theyoffer one of our most practical teaching helps. Such picturesshould be carefully selected and logically used. Line drawingsof laboratory equipment, industrial photographs, portraits ofchemists, and pictures of household appliances predominate.There has been a noticeable improvement in the quality andquantity of such illustrations in recent years. It has long beena common practice to assemble related items in tabulated formfor brevity and purposes of comparison. Topic surveys aid incorrelating facts of importance, and their common and con-tinued use indicates something of their value. Key words andkey statements help principally in organizing the material pre-sented or in emphasizing important terms, laws and ideas.

TEACHING HELPS 539

Directions for demonstrations, either definitely outlined orsufficiently suggested for teachers use, appear in twenty-fourof the texts. Exercises, questions and problems for student useare closely related. They show a frequency of twenty-four,twenty-three, and twenty-two respectively. While the distribu-tion over the past twenty-five years appears to be rather uni-form, a more careful examination of the texts reveals a markedimprovement in the quality, variety, and quantity of theseteaching aids in recent years. Twenty-two of the twenty-fivetextbooks contain useful reference material, assembled in sep-arate pages near the end of the book and designated specificallyas an ^Appendix.7? Two additional texts contain similar pagesand material without specifically designating them as an^Appendix.?? A more detailed and complete tabulation of thismaterial is given in Table II. Footnotes are used in nineteeninstances to elaborate or qualify statements appearing in themain body of the text. The distribution is rather uniform overthe twenty-five year period. However, their use and importanceis not as great as their frequency would indicate since mostauthors use them very sparingly. Atomic weight tables appearin the covers of eighteen texts, with a very noticeable pre-dominance in recent years. Some other books place this refer-ence material in the Appendix. The cover page, consideringthe extensive use of this information, would seem to be thelogical place for this table.

Graphs appear in sixteen textbooks. While there is but aslight increase in frequency of occurrence in recent years, yetthe most recent texts contain a far greater number of suchteaching helps than older books. The use of graphs appears tobe very noticeably increasing in high-school chemistry text-books in recent years. Summaries, which should be a valuableaid to students in organizing the contents of the several chap-ters, and witira frequency of fifteen, appear rather evenly dis-tributed throughout the period of the past twenty-five years.However, recent texts have included far more comprehensiveand useful summaries than most older books. Their use isdefinitely on the increase. The use of large and small type in thebody of the text for purposes of emphasis has been a commonpractice for years, with some increase in frequency and amountin recent years. Total frequency is fifteen. An encouraging dis-covery was to find a far greater use of suggested readings andreferences in recent volumes. While the total frequency is but

540 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

ten, most of these appear in recent years and many of the latesttextbooks contain splendid lists of suggested readings for stu-dent use. Review suggestions are usually used sparingly, if atall. The distribution of nine slightly favors recent years. How-ever, one or two recent volumes contain splendid and compre-hensive review suggestions. The frequency of experiments,namely nine, is very definitely on the decrease. There is a verynoticeable tendency in later years to place experimental workfor student use in separate laboratory manuals rather than inthe text itself. This would logically explain this recent decreasein frequency.The use of glossaries of chemical terms, with a total frequency

of six, appears to be on the increase. The placing of metric unittables in the cover of the textbooks has never been a verycommon practice. The frequency of four is rather uniformlydistributed. Only three textbooks make specific project sug-gestions. Three recent texts contain spectra plates in their coverpages. Periodic tables, tables of solubility and valence tables,each contained within the cover pages, and each with a fre-quency of two, are variously scattered throughout the periodcovered in this study. The most recent textbook, included inthis study, contains a comprehensive series of student tests.Other recent authors have supplied work books with test items.Whether this is a new and significant tendency, time only cantell. One recent volume also contains an electrochemical serieschart, and a table of the important physical constants of somecommon gases in the cover pages.

Table II is practically self-explanatory. The variety of ma-terial included in the several appendices is extensive as indi-cated. Two of the textbooks, designated by asterisks, do notinclude an appendix, designated specifically as such, but con-tain corresponding pages devoted to similar tabulated material.The type and amount of this material has but slightly increasedin recent years. Metric tables head the list in order of frequency,followed by vapor pressure tables, solubility of solids, physicalconstants of the elements, physical constants of gases, andbibliographies of suggested readings. Other topics follow in de-creasing order of frequency as tabulated until a list of somethirty-one items occur, no one of which appears more than oncein all of the textbooks studied. These single items have beengrouped into one final entry, rather than listed as individualitems. This seems to be justified for brevity, and also because

TEACHING HELPS 541

of the fact that these items are so numerous and varied as tolack genera] interest or importance.

CONCLUSIONS

In addition to the facts immediately obvious from a studyof Tables I and II, the following conclusions seem to be justified.

1. Supplementary teaching helps, as tabulated in Table I,have consistently increased in quality and quantity in high-school chemistry textbooks during the past twenty-five years.

2. The items of exercises, questions, problems, graphs, sum-maries, references, and review suggestions, designed especiallyfor student study and use, have increased noticeably duringrecent years in these representative textbooks.

3. Numerous other teaching helps, particularly those headingthe list in Table I, run surprisingly uniform in these textbooks,published over a period of twenty-five years.

4. While Table I shows a consistent use of pictures overtwenty-five years, yet there has been a marked and encouragingimprovement in the quality and quantity of these illustrations.

5. Recent texts show a marked tendency to utilize the fourpages within the covers for supplementary tables and referencematerial.

6. The inclusion of laboratory directions or experiments asan integral part of high-school chemistry textbooks is definitelyon the decrease. Such material is now usually published in aseparate laboratory manual.

7. Large amounts of statistical data are assembled in separateappendices. This practice has generally prevailed. While thereis little if any change in the amount of such material included,there is some improvement in the quality and choice of suchreference material in recent volumes.

8. The wide variation and lack of uniformity of the materialin these appendices is particularly noticeable.

RUBBER-MAKING CHEMICALA new grade of magnesium carbonate, used in making translucent rubber

products, has been developed by chemists as a step in both improvingtranslucent rubber and lessening American dependence on foreign importsof the substance, it is announced.Improvements in translucent rubber products manufactured with it are

attributed by its discoverers, chemists of the Keasbey and Mattison Com-pany, to the fact that it bends light rays to exactly the same degree asthey are bent by translucent rubber. In technical language, the newcrystalline substance has the same refractive index as rubber.