Inquiry-Based Chemistry Laboratory Modules for High School:

Project Background

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[Women-in-Chemistry Home Page]

The high school level modules produced by the New Pathways to Chemistry project came into being as a spin-off of the earlier college/university Women-in-Chemistry project. The College University Resource Institute (CURI), Inc. assembled a group of college chemistry professors who were eager to explore new ways of teaching chemistry to attract more women to the field. With support from the National Science Foundation, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, thirty college/university level laboratory modules were developed and tested. They were designed to use a collaborative, open-ended, inquiry-based approach. Since 1995 they have been for sale at a very reasonable price, and they have adopted by numerous colleges and universities across the country.

In 1996 the Jessie Ball duPont Fund funded the New Pathways to Chemistry project with the goal of adapting some of the college-level modules for high school use. Four college/university sites (College of St. Catherine, Sweet Briar College, University of Richmond, and Wells College) were selected to work with high school teachers. Twenty-one high school level modules were developed. In some cases two or more sites developed labs based on a single college/university lab. This enables teachers to choose amongst different approaches to topics central to modern chemistry such as chemical safety (see, for example, modules #5, #9, and #15 from the high school lab list).

CURI, Inc. has agreed to sell these modules at a reasonable price with a one-year copyright waiver for your school only.

College/University Labs