Chemistry Teacher International Enters Fourth Year

Rationale

The journal was initiated by the Committee on Chemistry Education of IUPAC, in cooperation with the Division of Chemistry Education of EuChemS. Both committees agreed that a truly international journal was needed, one that was easy to access for teachers. For the development of education, the exchange of experiences—positive and negative—is essential. The description of good practices by teachers for teachers in a more international setting should broaden the scope of teachers, beyond developments in their own country. Since travel abroad for teachers is normally very limited, an online, freely accessible journal would help inspire teachers. Both committees decided an international journal was needed for articles focusing on:

1. Good practice in chemistry education at all levels

2. Reports about developments in chemistry education

3. Bridging the gap between research and classroom practice (Herrington & Daubenmire, 2016)

4. Papers presented in conferences about chemistry education such as

   1. ICCE

   2. ECRICE

   3. NICE

   4. ACRICE

   5. EUROVARIETY

5. Reports on educational activities of IUPAC divisions and standing committees.

There is only a limited number of international journals (about 20) dedicated to science—and or chemistry—education research (Kreke et al., 1998; Towns & Kraft, 2012). By now there may be a few more. Most of these journals have a subscription model and are mainly focused on research in science education.

In 2016 Keith Taber (Taber, 2016) wrote an editorial in Chemistry Education Research and Practice (CERP), titled “What is wrong with ‘practice’ papers.” In the article he explained why several types of papers are not published in CERP. More specifically he explained and argued what chemistry education research is and what it is not. He went on to explain why good practice papers should not be published in CERP. Basically, his idea was that reports on good practices, in general, do not add to the scientific knowledge and educational knowledge as such.

The Committee on Chemistry Education agreed that good practices are not necessarily chemistry education research. In some cases, they might be, but not as a general rule. That does not mean publications on good practices are not important. Reports about good practices can play an important role in improving education. An article about a way in which a flipped classroom was used, that also tries to explain why this worked in that particular situation, may inspire another teacher to try something similar in his or her own situation.

Figure 1. Countries of origin of the authors of the first 82 articles published in CTI

Journals publishing good practices in secondary education are mainly national teacher journals, like The Science Teacher published by NSTA; Education in Science, published by the ASE in the UK; Chemie &Schule, published in Austria; Chemkon, published in Germany; NVOX, published in the Netherlands; and La chimica nella scuola, published in Italy. Up to now there were very few international journal publishing good practices in chemistry education.

Since most teachers in secondary schools do not have access to journals with a subscription model, it was decided to let CTI be an open access journal, available to everybody with an internet connection. That means no subscription fees, but instead an Author Processing Charge (APC). For the first two volumes the fee was paid by DeGruyter (publisher) and IUPAC. The APC was set at € 375, and was implemented since July 2021. In order to stimulate publications from around the world, there is a reduction scheme (50% or 100% reduction), based on the economic situation of countries. Members of IUPAC receive a 33% reduction. Apart from that the editorial board can invite authors to publish and waive the APC.

Figure 2. Article source in several journals on chemistry education

Origin of articles received

From the start, the journal has had no problem attracting articles from an international group of authors. In figure 1 the country of origin of the first 82 articles is given. By now (November 2021) more than 100 articles have been received.

Recently an article discussing research on education in Ethiopia and Indonesia was received. Especially for teachers in Africa it is important to have an international forum, where they can exchange information about their educational research and developments.

To demonstrate the international character of CTI the article source of some research journals is given in figure 2.

It’s clear that there is no dominance from one particular country in the source of articles, indicating CTI is truly an international journal, encompassing all regions of the world. The educational board that was formed reflects this idea. The composition is given in table 1.

The editors are not only responsible for the review process (each paper is reviewed by two external reviewers), but also play a role in soliciting papers within their region. Based on the success of the first two years CTI has been accepted in SCOPUS and EBSCO-host, two major search engines. It means CTI will receive an impact index within Scopus. CTI has submitted a request to be accepted within the Social Science Citation Index as an emerging journal.

Readership

Over the first two years some data have been collected about the use of CTI. These are given in figures 3 and 4. These data indicate that the readership of CTI is growing. It is also clear that marketing is needed in order to increase the readership.

Figure 3. Download growth of CTI in numbers

Figure 4. Usage growth by region

Special Issues

The editorial board has decided to publish at least one special issue per year. These special issues focus on a specific theme. In June 2021 a special issue was published with Polymer Science as a central theme. The content of that special issue is given in table 2.

For the next special issue, a call was sent out requesting papers concerning the theme: “Examples of the use of the principles of Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development in the design of industrial processes for secondary chemistry and for introductory chemistry courses. ”Many chemistry curricula now feature green chemistry. The curriculum in the Netherlands is an example (Apotheker, 2018). In introductory chemistry courses in higher education more and more attention is given to the principles of green chemistry (Hjeresen et al., 2000), as well as the ideas of sustainable development (UN Sustainable Development Goals, n.d.). This includes design principles like “cradle to cradle,” and “cradle to grave” as well as life cycle analysis (Braungart & McDonough, 2002).

The number of concrete examples to illustrate these principles that are used in education at this moment is limited, even though there are many recent examples. Within chemistry education it is important for students to understand the role that chemistry plays in society. One of these roles is to apply chemical knowledge to design processes that implement the principles of green chemistry and help in sustainable development. In order to demonstrate the role of chemistry, more information for teachers is needed so they can use this information and share with their students.

Later in 2022 a special issue on chemistry and cultural heritage will be published. As argued above it is important for students to recognize the role of chemistry in society. Articles about the use of chemistry by indigenous people are expected, as well as articles about the use of chemistry in the restoration of works of art (Figure 5).

Contribution to IUPAC

Chemistry Teacher International has made a flying start, and continues to attract enough articles to be able to published at least 4 issues a year. It is clear that CTI will contribute to the development of chemistry education internationally. CTI clearly fills a gap between chemistry education research and the activities in the classroom. CTI still needs to grow further and work is needed in the future to make sure it stabilizes and reaches a large group of teachers with an international orientation.

For IUPAC, CTI is a journal in which the divisions and standing committees can showcase their activities to an important group. Chemistry education, both in secondary schools as well as in introductory courses is an ideal platform to demonstrate the important role of chemistry in society, and the role IUPAC has within the chemistry community. The special issues of CTI, but also articles in general issues, can be used to highlight IUPAC’s activities.

The special issues so far have been supported by different IUPAC divisions and standing committees. The editorial board welcomes ideas and initiatives to reach out to the educational community.

Figure 5. Still Life: vase with 12 Sunflowers, van Gogh (Neue Pinakothek) Van Gogh used a chromate based paint: the yellow color is slowly turning brown due to reduction of Chromium(VI) to chromium(III). Understanding the chemistry of the process helps in the restoration.