Updating the General Chemistry Anchoring Concepts Content Map

Updating the General Chemistry Anchoring Concepts Content Map

Thomas Holme, Cynthia Luxford, and Kristen Murphy

Journal of Chemical Education Article ASAP

DOI: 10.1021/ed500712k

Supporting Information (24 pages)

Holme, T.; Luxford, C.; Murphy, K. Updating the General Chemistry Anchoring Concepts Content Map. J. Chem. Educ. 2015, 92; DOI: 10.1021/ed500712k.

ABSTRACT: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed500712k

This communication is a summary of updates made to the Anchoring Chemistry Concepts Map (ACCM).  The goal of this map is to map and organize content according to some anchoring concepts or “big ideas” of chemistry.  The hope is that chemical educators can use this map to help organize content learning and assessment efforts.

ACCM consists of 4 levels:

Level 1: Anchoring Concepts

Level 2: Enduring Understandings

Level 3: Sub-disciplinary Articulations

Level 4: Content Detail

The first 2 levels apply consistently across the undergraduate curriculum and levels 3 and 4 apply to specialized sub-disciplines.

It should be noted that this short article did not explain the structure of the 24-page anchoring concepts document in the supporting information.  A more detailed explanation was given in another related article I read, What Do Conceptual Holes in Assessment Say about the Topics We Teach in General Chemistry? By Luxford and Holme published March 11, 2015.

The 24 – page Supporting Information pages contain the 10 Level 1 anchoring concepts:

I. Matter consists of atoms that have internal structures that dictate their chemical and physical behavior.

II. Bonding: Atoms interact via electrostatic forces to form chemical bonds

III. Structure and Function: Chemical compounds have geometric structures that influence their chemical and physical behaviors.

IV. Intermolecular Interactions: Intermolecular forces—electrostatic forces between molecules—dictate the physical behavior of matter.

V. Chemical Reactions: Matter changes, forming products that have new chemical and physical properties.

VI. Energy and Thermodynamics: Energy is the key currency of chemical reactions in molecular-scale systems as well as macroscopic systems.

VIII. Equilibrium: All physical and chemical changes are, in principle, reversible and often reach a state of dynamic equilibrium.

IX. Experiments, Measurement, and Data: Chemistry is generally advanced via experimental observations.

X. Visualization: Chemistry constructs meaning interchangeably at the particulate and macroscopic levels.

For each of the 10 anchoring concepts, there are levels 2, 3, and 4 items.  Level 2 (Enduring Understanding) items are labeled A, B, C, etc.  Level 3 (Sub-disciplinary articulations) items are labeled 1, 2, 3, etc. Level 4 (Content detail) items are labeled a, b, c, etc.

One of things I would like to do this semester is frequently refer to the anchoring concepts map to see how closely the depth and organization of my lecture coverage of content and assessment align at the enduring understanding level.