Volume 6, Issue 4 - Special Issue on teaching ethics and core values in chemistry education; Guest Editors: Jan Apotheker and Iwona Maciejowska

This special issue is deciated to the teaching of ethics in chemistry education. In this editorial the articles in this special issue are introduced. A short explanation how they fit into this specific special issue is given.

Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI) is a concept of professional attitude and agency in the context of innovation with significant expected societal and environmental impact. Yet, the realisation of RRI’s goals faces several methodological and structural difficulties, among them the insufficient implementation of RRI education in STEM majors at higher education institutions. This paper proposes a course concept that aims at filling a gap in the translation of RRI principles into tertiary chemistry education practice. Employing a challenge-based learning (CBL) approach, it draws on a practical framework of RRI as orientation for professional conduct in the context of chemistry (academic research, chemical engineering, and corporate R&D). The highly practical course – with lectures reduced to a minimum – is thematically structured around a fictitious innovation project as it may happen in real-world contexts, potentially in cooperation with local chemical companies and industry. Students form teams, define roles and shared values, identify a challenge of their interest, and are guided through developing and validating a solution. The CBL fashion is expected to lead to a high engagement with the course content, a clear realisation of the practical significance and applicability of the acquired skills, and a change in attitude towards normative dimensions of chemical science and innovation activities. The designated course objectives are the formation of normative literacy, the shaping of professional integrity and good scientific practice, the strengthening of discourse performance skills, and the ability of interdisciplinary collaboration in multi-stakeholder settings.

Through history, the relationship between science and society has changed, and today, science is almost totally integrated and an essential pillar in society. This development has changed the framework for scientific research and made it much more important to consider ethical issues related to both generation of knowledge and use of chemicals. However, such issues have barely been touched in traditional chemistry programs at university level until a few years ago, and there is therefore a need to introduce courses in these topics for university students. In this paper, the background for this need is outlined, and then a teaching module following the IUPAC layered approach is described. The module is based on a selection of key documents, dealing with research integrity and ethics, which are presented and discussed in lectures, workshops, and breakout groups. At the end, the course material is used by each student to write a code of conduct based on his or her working environment.

The article describes the practical implementation of the course titled “Good Chemistry: Methodological, Ethical, and Social Implications” available on the EuChemS e-learning platform. This MOOC course has been used in various ways at several European universities and through blended learning at Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland), which is discussed in this article. Since the groups of students participating in the course were not large and it is worth taking a closer look/insight at this issue, the case study method was used. Sample materials and activities for this course are presented. The survey responses of lecturers and students, as well as the activities and posts of Jagiellonian University in Krakow students on the remote learning platform, were analyzed. The strengths and weaknesses of the course were identified, and the need for continuous efforts by lecturers to develop ethical attitudes, critical thinking, and communication skills in students, especially in the field of socioscientific issues, was emphasized.

This study presents a novel approach to integrating ethics and core values into chemistry education through the module “Culture of Democracy Through the Didactics of Chemistry.” Developed as part of a broader initiative aimed at educating future teachers for democracy and human rights, this module explores the ethical dimensions of chemical knowledge and its social and environmental impact. Utilizing the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, it introduces pre-service teachers to concepts such as responsibility, human dignity, and the rule of law. The module involved six pre-service teachers and two schoolteacher-mentors. Key activities included student-led discussions, such as exploring personal responsibility and moral dilemmas in chemistry, exemplified by the Heinz dilemma, and engaging in discourse on the possibility of breaking a law for morally justifiable reasons to comprehend the delicate balance between legal duties and moral responsibilities. Through reflective exercises and collaborative learning, pre-service teachers engage critically with the ethical implications of their future profession. Initial feedback highlights the value of integrating ethical discussions into chemistry education, fostering deeper reflection and a sense of responsibility among pre-service teachers. The study provides a valuable framework for educators integrating ethics into science curricula, fostering responsible chemistry practice aligned with social values.

This paper discusses the ethical considerations surrounding generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in chemistry education, aiming to guide teachers toward responsible AI integration. GenAI, driven by advanced AI models like Large Language Models, has shown substantial potential in generating educational content. However, this technology’s rapid rise has brought forth ethical concerns regarding general and educational use that require careful attention from educators. The UNESCO framework on GenAI in education provides a comprehensive guide to controversies around generative AI and ethical educational considerations, emphasizing human agency, inclusion, equity, and cultural diversity. Ethical issues include digital poverty, lack of national regulatory adaptation, use of content without consent, unexplainable models used to generate outputs, AI-generated content polluting the internet, lack of understanding of the real world, reducing diversity of opinions, and further marginalizing already marginalized voices and generating deep fakes. The paper delves into these eight controversies, presenting relevant examples from chemistry education to stress the need to evaluate AI-generated content critically. The paper emphasizes the importance of relating these considerations to chemistry teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge and argues that responsible AI usage in education must integrate these insights to prevent the propagation of biases and inaccuracies. The conclusion stresses the necessity for comprehensive teacher training to effectively and ethically employ GenAI in educational practices.

The study of forensic chemical analysis not only aids justice in the investigation of accidental or criminal events but also trains chemistry students in analysing hypothetical scenes, such as the design of scientific experiments, and alerting them to potential dangers. In this way, it contributes to generating awareness about safety and security, ethics, and the professional responsibilities of chemists. These, although ambitious, are some of the objectives that have led to the development of this course on Chemical Analysis in Forensic Investigation, whose thematic units and teaching details are developed. This work presents a detailed programme for the Forensic Chemistry course offered at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. It includes examples of activities and bibliography, allowing it to be used as a template for similar courses or to adapt some of the thematic units to other chemistry courses. The suggested bibliography supports the education of both students and educators in the field of forensic chemistry. The incorporation of topics such as fires, explosives, chemical warfare agents (CWA), and environmental crimes aims to develop professional profiles for a new generation of chemists more committed to the societal impact of their work.

Choosing an approach is a regular occurrence for chemists, be it for a new synthesis, a change in production, or out of financial necessity. Arriving at a decision which is right for the individual means weighing up options, even making ethical decisions. The interactive teaching approaches described here involve student chemists making choices in situations they may encounter. The goal is not to instruct chemistry students on what is right or wrong but to encourage them to debate issues and to reach a conclusion which they consider to be ethical. Two teaching approaches are described which are adaptable for many different scenarios; the scenarios were developed to encourage discussion about dual-use issues, issues in which chemicals can be used for good or ill. In the first exercise chemists are invited to make a drug using a simple chemical process and answer a range of questions. This is followed by role play to determine if the chemist might sell the drug to profit from it. A further exercise, using a jigsaw technique, with greater opportunity for discussion is also described. More actors, with different agendas, are introduced into the discussion and student chemists explore circumstances they may be in, make decisions and justify choices. Group discussions enable educators to discuss ethical dilemmas.

Ethics considerations are necessary in all human activities. They are particularly important for activities that impact on human wellbeing and society. Chemistry has paramount impacts because of the extensive presence of chemistry-based items in everyday life and their eventual impacts on the environment, which, in turn, affect human beings because humans live in the environment and depend on it. Therefore, it is important to include ethics considerations in chemistry education at all levels and – to a larger extent – in the preparation of chemistry specialists. The present work analyses the main challenges associated with the incorporation of ethics into chemistry courses, and outlines possible promising approaches. When considering chemicals, the major ethical-type terms could be the benefits from their use and the possible harms to human beings or the environment: therefore, the “doing good” ethical concept can be associated with maximising the former and minimising the latter. The ways in which benefits or harms occur can be analysed in terms of the nature of selected chemicals, their usage modes, the routes through which they may enter the environment, and the undesirable effects they may cause through inappropriate usage or through their presence in the environment.

Hebei University of Science and Technology (HEBUST) actively carries out chemical ethics education practices and incorporates chemical ethics modules into the curriculum, aiming to improve students’ morality, responsibility, knowledge and skills. In the teaching of basic courses, relevant content of chemical ethics is introduced to guide students to think about the ethics of chemical. At the same time, the university has built a diversified practical platform and organized students to participate in laboratory research projects. HEBUST invites enterprise engineers to give lectures and carry out “practical month” activities. The design homework of senior students also incorporates ethical considerations to cultivate students’ ability to practice ethical principles in actual engineering. In addition, the school also invited retired experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to give lectures. The relevant majors have passed the Washington Accord certification and the certification of the China Engineering Education Professional Certification Association. External supervision has promoted the continuous deepening of the reform of chemical ethics education. Therefore, HEBUST has provided an effective example for cultivating chemically and engineering-talented people with social responsibility and also provided a reference for other colleges and universities to carry out chemical ethics education.

The chemical bond is the biggest paradigm in chemistry. But at the same time it is notoriously complex to define it. Under the assumption that knowing what we do not know makes better students and lecturers, we succinctly describe three approaches to define the bond (energetic, structural, and orbital), their advantages and especially their failures. We propose that these definitions, including their theoretical, practical and even philosophical issues, should be taught to advanced undergraduate chemistry students as an essential introduction to the chemical bond module of quantum chemistry courses. This is a controversial topic due to the lack of consensus in the chemical bond community over this heavily disputed topic and the conflicting pedagogical approach; however, and maybe because of this controversy, the teaching of the definitions of the chemical bond including their open questions and challenges can be positively instructive. Moreover, we propose that teaching the uncertainties of chemistry, especially in relation to the paradigmatic chemical bond, is an ethical matter.