IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

Keld Nielsen

Teacher in chemistry and mathematics

(Køge Gymnasium)

National Advisor for Chemistry,

Division for General Upper Secondary Education, National Education Agency (Uddannelsesstyrelsen), The Ministry of Children and Education (Ministeriet for børn og uddannelse)

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System

“Folkeskolen”

Science subjects in the Folkeskolen

Primary school

(1-6 level): • Mathematics • Natural sciences/technology

Lower secondary

(upper compulsory school) (7-9 level): • Mathematics • Geography • Biology • Physics/chemistry: Oral examination including experimental works

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Teachers in “Folkeskolen” (primary and lower secondary)

Teacher qualifications

• Today education take place at a university colleges in Denmark. University colleges are non-profit institutions under public administration.

• The teacher-training programme takes 4 years to complete • Includes e.g.: Educational subjects (general educational theory, psychology …) 2 or 3 main subjects A Bachelor of Education project Teaching practice • Main subjects can e.g. be: Biology, Danish (age specialised), mathematics (age specialised), natural science/technology, and physics/chemistry • Admission to teacher training requires: Upper secondary school leaving examination

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System

Four different Upper Secondary Education programmes in Denmark

About 39000 pupils got an examination in the four different upper secondary schools in 2011 (about 60 % of all young) About 56 % were women

The Gymnasium (STX) (3 years) (about 60 %)

About 62 % women

Chemistry:

To some extend elective

The Higher Prepatory Examination (HF) (2 years) (about 13 %)

About 60 % women

Chemistry part of Natural science group

: Compulsory subject

The Higher Technical Examination (HTX) (3 years) (about 9 %)

About 25 % women

Chemistry

: Compulsory subject at B-level

The Higher Commercial Examination (HHX) (3 years) (about 18 %)

About 47 % women

Chemistry

: Not part of this education program

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Upper secondary in Denmark

•

Reform in 2005 of the upper secondary educational system in Denmark

•

A upper secondary educational program (stx, htx, hhx) in Denmark consists of:

1. A specific range of

compulsory subjects

physics, mathematics e.g. in stx Danish, history, 2. Each pupil has to choose a

specialized studies packages

(containing three subjects). E.g. a natural science study package can consist of mathematics A, chemistry B and physics B 3.

Elective subjects

4. multi-subject coursework The curricula for subjects and multi-subject courses are made by The Ministry children and Education.

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Upper secondary in Denmark – STX as an example

Purpose

: The students are to achieve general education and study competence in the humanities, natural science and social science with a view to being in a position to complete higher education.

Specialized study programme 2½ years

Compulsory subjects e.g. Danish A, English B, 2nd foreign language, social science Three subjects e.g. mathematics A, chemistry B, physics B Elective subjects Multi-subject coursework Specialized study project (in the third year)

Basic programme ½ year

E.g. multi-subject coursework in natural science and language

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry

3 levels in chemistry A, B and C in upper secondary. A is the most advanced C-level: About 75 hours B-level: About 200 hours (include C-level) A-level: About 325 hours (includes C- and B-level)

STX HTX HF A B C Elective Elective Elective Elective Compulsory Elective Elective

Part of NSG

Compulsory Biotechnology A

(in stx and htx)

Elective Equivalent to chemistry B-level

Biotechnology A – a new tentative subject in upper secondary A-level: All together 400 hours over 3 years) Include chemistry and biology

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry

A curriculum for each level in chemistry called “plan of teaching”: Focus at - Competences the pupils obtain due to the teaching at the specific level The “core-elements” of chemistry at the specific level - The organization of the teaching e.g.amount of experimental works, use of IT, thematic and systematic approach - Description of the examination

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry

Chemistry A level (topics in headlines)

Inorganic and organic chemistry Stoichiometry Chemical reactions; acid-base reactions, redoxreactions, organic reactions Chemical kinetics Chemical equilibrium Thermochemistry Spectroscopy (IR og 1 H-NMR) Experimental work, different experimental methods

Amount of experimental work:

Level A: About 16 % of the time of education Level C and B: 20 %

Organization of teaching:

Mostly done by the chemistry teacher

Form of examination:

Level A; both an oral and a written (the Ministry formulates all written examination questions) Level C and B: Only oral examinations

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry

How many pupils have a chemistry level when leaving upper secondary?

(percentage of the number of pupils in respectively htx and stx)

2009 2010

HTX: Kemi A (elective) 20,8 22,3 HTX: Kemi B (compulsary) 79,1 77,8 STX: Kemi A (elective) STX: Kemi B (elective) STX: Kemi C (elective) Total 7,1 24,6 23,0 54,7 6,7 25,1 23,6 55,4

Pupils at written examination in chemistry A distributed according to sex 2011 Female Male

HTX: Kemi A HTX: In general STX: Kemi A STX: In general 42 % 22 % 66 % 62 % 58 % 78 % 34 % 38 %

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry

Why chemistry in upper secondary?

Main purpose of upper secondary education • Prepare young people for higher education (some at university level) • Acquire general knowledge and competences

Higher education at university level within natural science, medicine, technology require chemistry from upper secondary level B (together with mathematics level A and physic level B)

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry – teachers upper secondary

Teacher qualifications

• Completed a Master’s programme at a university Typical 5 years and two subjects. This is not an education to be a teacher in upper secondary • When employed at an upper secondary school One year of teacher training (pædagogikum). A course in educational theory and practice.

Teacher in chemistry in upper secondary

• Chemistry: Numbers of teachers about 960 (about 80 % in stx) In comparison physics about 1150 and biology about 1080 • Teachers in upper secondary have normally two subject Chemistry often combine with mathematics, biology and physics

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Chemistry – teachers upper secondary

Teachers continuing educations (in-service training)

• The Ministry of Education issues the rules according to which the schools work.

• The schools are self-governing institutions They finance the implementation of the upper secondary education programmes by means of grants from the Ministry of Education provided on the

basis of pupil numbers

.

• In consequence the schools (in practice the headmaster) decide the need for continuing educations of the teachers.

Often in-service training can be related to a subject e.g. chemistry

IYC Conference for Nordic Chemistry Teachers, Stockholm October 28-29 2011

The Danish Education System Biotechnology – a

new tentative subject in upper secondary

Since the school year 2008/09 and until 2012/13 pupils in upper secondary can choose:

A specialized study package of the subjects:

• Biotechnology A • Mathematics A • Physics B

The subject biotechnology includes e.g.

- elements from the subjects biology and chemistry with a biotechnological and biochemical approach - experimental works and written examination The study package open for the same higher educations as the study package with mathematics A, physics B and chemistry B