Page 1 of 8
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 7
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.107.14967
Tang, Y., Xu, S., Xu, Y., & Wang, P. (2023). Teaching the Big Concept of Chemistry in the Context of China's Basic Education Reform.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 177-184.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Teaching the Big Concept of Chemistry in the Context of China's
Basic Education Reform
YanyanTang
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
Henan University, Kaifeng, China
Suyi Xu
Central Philippine University, lloilo, Philippines
Ying Xu
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Henan University,
Kaifeng, China,Central Philippine University, lloilo, Philippines
Pengyun Wang
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
Henan University, Kaifeng, China
ABSTRACT
In the eighth curriculum reform, China proposed to developstudents' core literacy
in disciplines, aiming to explore what kind of teaching mode and means can
cultivate outstanding talents through Chinese school education, and emphasize the
emphasis on the teaching of major concepts of disciplines to make the curriculum
content structured. The teaching of major concepts is highly abstract and
generalized, which can help students establish a knowledge structure system and
promote thetransfer and application of knowledge. This paper takes the knowledge
of galvanic batteries as the carrier and the question of "why can the fan rotate" as
the driving force, forms a cognitive model, and puts forward a unit teaching led by
a large concept from the perspective of energy conversion, so that students can
better understand the galvanic battery model and apply it to life, so as to promote
the development of students' core literacy.
Keywords: Big concept, Core literacy, Education reform, Galvanic cells
Since the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978, Chinahas gone through four stages
of basic education reform, each of which has been practiced in combination with national
conditions, school conditions and academic conditions, and achieved good results. From the
Ministry of Education proposedto strengthen "double-base" teaching in the classroom to
primary and secondary schools from "examination-oriented education" to comprehensively
improve the national quality of education, the development of China's education has made great
progress, from 2001 to 2007 put forward the "three-dimensional goal" students' inquiry ability
and autonomy has been well developed, now the teaching under the core literacy emphasizes
that big-concept teaching can better implement quality education.
Page 2 of 8
178
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
INTRODUCTION OFBIG CONCEPTS
The idea of big concept can be traced back to Bruner, who believes that big concept is the
knowledge structure of the discipline, the knowledge framework formed in the student's mind,
and this framework is extremely transferable and inductive [1]. Ausubel proposed the theory
of "advance organizer", the so-called first organizer is a big concept, that is, a guide material
with higher abstraction and generalization, which not only provides a key fixation point for the
learning of new knowledge, but also increases the recognizability between new and old
knowledge [2]. Erikson believes that the big concept is the core of the discipline, the essence
bone marrow of a discipline that removes the surface shell, and has a strong transferability, and
over time students can apply the knowledge learned in school to the vertical intradisciplinary
context inside and outside the school, as well as the horizontal interdisciplinary context. [3]
In 2011, the Dutch educator Wynne Harlen defined the conceptof " big concept " in the book "
science education with the concept of big concept " as the concept that we can use to explain
and predict a wide range of natural phenomena. It divides big concepts into scientific concepts
and concepts aboutscience, and puts forward four characteristics that big conceptsshould have
[4]
.
Whiteley emphasizes that big concepts are building materials forunderstanding and can be
considered as meaningful patterns to enable people to connect other scattered knowledge
points [5].
This requires teachers to integrate textbook knowledge more systematically to provide
students with more organized chemicalknowledge. The big concept is not disorderly free in the
discipline structure but presents a network structure. This network-like structure includes
intra-disciplinary network structure and inter-disciplinary network structure ( also known as
interdisciplinary network structure ), and each big concept is the base station that completes
the communication between network structures [6].The big concept network in the discipline
refers to the vertical connection of a certain discipline, and the selection and organization of the
course content with the big concept as the center in different sections, which is the key clue of
the course design. The inter-disciplinary big concept refers to the horizontal connection of
certain disciplines, spanning two or more knowledge fields, and the reasonable connection
between different disciplines based on a common big concept, which effectively blurs the
boundary between disciplines. Any subject will not exist in isolation, and teaching will
inevitably involvethe comprehensive application of several subjects.
In the " General High School Chemistry Curriculum Standards (2017 Edition 2020 Revision) "
issued by the Ministry of Education of China, it is pointed out that " attaching importance to
taking the big concept of the discipline as the core, structuringthe curriculum content, taking
the theme as the guide, contextualizing the curriculum content, and promoting the
implementation of the core literacy of the discipline. " This is the first time that China 's basic
education emphasizes in the curriculum standards that the curriculum content needs to be
structured with the big concept of the discipline as the core to promote the implementation of
the core literacy of the discipline [2]
.
Page 3 of 8
179
Tang, Y., Xu, S., Xu, Y., & Wang, P. (2023). Teaching the Big Concept of Chemistry in the Context of China's Basic Education Reform. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 177-184.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.107.14967
In the context of the new curriculum reform, the proposal of core literacy is intended to explore
what kind of teaching mode and means can truly cultivate outstanding talents in Chinese
schools. In 2020, major changes have been made to the high school entrance examination
system in various provinces and cities and the college entrance examination system in different
regions. It requires a considerable number of students to carry out vocational and technical
education after the academic examination. At the same time, the ' 3 + 1 + 2 ' elective system is
implemented in the first grade of senior high school, which requires teachers to guide students
to make reasonable planning for future learning. It poses a challenge to how to develop students
' ' key competencies ' and ' essential character ' in class.
The " General High School Chemistry Curriculum Standards (2017 Edition) " (hereinafter
referred to as the " New Curriculum Standards “) clearly states that the subject curriculum
should " attach importance to the core of the big concept of the subject and structure the course
content. "[2].
THE BIG CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF 'CHEMICAL ENERGY AND
ELECTRIC ENERGY'
As the key to leading the implementation of the core literacy of the discipline in the curriculum
reform in the new era of China, the big concept has become a hot topic in the field of education.
If teachers master the basic conceptual framework of the subject,it will help students retain the
memory of subject knowledge and promote the transfer of learning [8].
The unit of " chemical energy and electric energy " in the compulsory stage of Chinese high
school textbook belongs to the part of " chemical reaction and energy conversion " in the theme
3 of the new curriculum standard. The new curriculum standard of China clearly points out : '
Knowing that chemical reaction can realize the conversion of chemical energy and otherforms
of energy, taking the primary battery as an example to understand that chemical energy can be
converted into electrical energy, and preliminarily understand the working principle of the
primary battery from the perspective of redox reaction '[9]; teaching strategies should ' play
the functional value of important knowledge, help Chinese students develop the basic
perspective of understanding chemical reactions, and form basic concepts ' When things change
or are changed, energy conversion occurs, but the total amount of energy in the universeis
always constant '[10]. The content of chemical energy and electrical energy in the PEP high
school chemistry compulsory( Book 2 )textbook ( hereinafter referred to as the " new textbook
" ) published in China in 2019 mainly includes the primary battery and its working principle,
the design and production of simple batteries ( the discussion of the elements ofthe primary
battery and its nature and function ), and the chemical battery ( the simple understanding of
zinc manganese dry battery and lead-acid battery ). The teaching design is basedon the big
concept of " when things change or are changed, energy conversion will occur, but the total
amount of energy in the universe is always the same, " to help students form a modelcognition.
Page 4 of 8
180
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Fig.1 The big concept knowledge framework in ' chemical energy and electric energy '
UNIT TEACHING OBJECTIVES AND OVERALLTEACHING IDEAS
Overall Teaching Ideas
Guided by the big concept of the subject, taking the real problem as the situation, let the
students gradually establish theoriginal battery model in the situation, so as to analyze and
apply the established model to the real situation again, and enhance the students ' sense of
social responsibility and innovation consciousness. The content of this section is dividedinto
two hours of teaching, see figure 2.
Fig.2 Distribution of teaching hours
Analysis of Learning Situation
In junior high school and senior high school, Chinese studentslearn the relevant knowledge of '
chemical energy and electricenergy ‘:
1. Students learned the knowledge of the order of metal activityin Chinese junior high
school chemistry textbooks;
2. Students in the first volume of the compulsory textbook forsenior one in China learned
Page 5 of 8
181
Tang, Y., Xu, S., Xu, Y., & Wang, P. (2023). Teaching the Big Concept of Chemistry in the Context of China's Basic Education Reform. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 177-184.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.107.14967
that the essence of the redox reaction is the transfer of electrons;
3. The first section of this chapter studies the knowledge of chemical energy and thermal
energy, and recognizes that the fracture and formation of chemical bonds in chemical
reactionsare the essential reasons for energy changes in chemical reactions.
Before this, Chinese students have learned some basic experiments, but they have not yet
involved themselves in designing experiments. Therefore, through this unit learning,students '
ability to design experiments can be improved.
TeachingObjectives
1. Understanding the primary battery from the perspective ofchemical reaction and energy
conversion, and understanding the essence of chemical energy and electrical energy
conversion;
2. Establish a systematic analysis of the electrochemicalprocess to form an understanding
of the nature of electrochemistry;
3. Understanding the practical significance and important application of electrochemical
knowledge, looking forward tothe future design of the battery;
Teaching Difficulties
1. Understand the relationship between the essential changesand conservation of chemical
energy and electrical energy from the perspective of redox reaction.
2. Experimental study on the conditions of the primarybattery;
Teaching Methods
Teaching method, experimental inquiry method, discussionmethod
THE TEACHING DESIGN OF ' CHEMICAL ENERGY AND ELECTRICENERGY ' UNDER THE
GUIDANCE OF BIG CONCEPT
Professor Zhang Xinghua combed the teaching design of chemical energy and electrical energy
in China from 2010 to 2020, and found that there are still few articles on the study of big
concepts. The big concepts of disciplines are highly abstract and general. The unit teaching
design guided by the big concepts of disciplines can help students establish a knowledge
structure system and promote the transfer and application of knowledge. The content of '
chemical energy and electric energy ' in this section reflects the important concept of chemistry:
energy concept, which allows studentsto learn through this class that the conversion of energy
requires certain conditions. The primary battery is a device that converts chemical energy into
electric energy. Changing certain conditions can improve the efficiency of converting chemical
energy into electric energy.
The First-Class Teaching Design
[Situational introduction]
Teacher demonstration experiment:
[Task 1] Why can the fan rotate?
What is the energy conversion relationship when the fanrotates?
Which reactions can generate current to make the fan rotate?Why Zn and dilute H2SO4 direct
reaction can not let the fan rotation
Activity 1: Students discuss the energy conversionrelationship;
Page 6 of 8
182
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Activity 2: The experiment verifies whether the active metalalone reacts with dilute H2SO4 to
generate a current; Activity 3 : Build copper-zinc primary batteries to rotate the fan ; Energy
can be converted to each other ; Chemical reaction is an important way to realize energy
conversion.
Chemical energy can be converted into electrical energy byredox reaction.
[Building Model]
[Task 2] Taking the built copper-zinc primary battery as anexample, the working principle of
the primary battery is analyzed.
Why are there bubbles on the copper surface?Where does the electron come from?
How do the ions in the solution move? Activity 4: Try to write the electrode reaction;
Activity 5: Using the ammeter to judge the positive and negative electrodes of the copper-zinc
primary battery andanalyze the reasons;
Activity 6: Taking copper-zinc primary battery as anexample, the primary battery model is
constructed;
the primary battery device makes the oxidation and reductionreactions generate current at
different electrodes, and realizesthe conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy.
[Deepening Model]
[Task 3] Select different electrodes and design more primarybatteries based on the above
model; summarize the conditions for the formation of primarybatteries?
Activity 7: Experiment to explore and summarize theconditions for the formation ofthe primary
battery;
1. Zinc, iron, dilute sulfuric acid;
2. Zinc, graphite, dilute sulfuric acid;
3. Iron, copper, dilute sulfuric acid;
4. Zinc, zinc, dilute sulfuric acid;
5. Other conditions remain unchanged to change the type
6. of solution using alcohol, dilute sulfuric acid;
7. Other conditions unchanged, two electrodes were inserted into two beakers; observe
whether the currentis generated to draw a conclusion;
The transformation of energy is conditional;
the formation of the primary battery needs to meet certainconditions:
(1) There are two metals with different activities (or one isyes or no).
1.Under the guidance of the big concept, the application model is explored through experiments
to internalize the bigconcept.
The concept of big concept education is based on the fact thatthe course content in teaching is
too complicated, the connection between knowledge and knowledge is weak, the knowledge
learned by students is fragmented, divorced from life, and it is difficult to transfer and apply
[11]. The big concept reflects the deep meaning behind the knowledge.
Through the study of the first class, the students understand the components of the primary
battery model and the primarybattery, and form a basic energy concept. However, these
methods need to be internalized and repeated in practice.
Page 7 of 8
183
Tang, Y., Xu, S., Xu, Y., & Wang, P. (2023). Teaching the Big Concept of Chemistry in the Context of China's Basic Education Reform. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 177-184.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.107.14967
REFLECTION AND CONCLUSION
Professor He Caixia proposed that we can analyze and grasp the concept of chemistry from the
following aspects: First, it points to the research object and basic problems of chemistry; the
second is to point to the research methods andcognitive methods of chemistry; the third is to
point to the purpose and value of chemistry research [12]. The teaching design under the guidance
of the big concept condenses the subject knowledge and focuses on the essence of the subject,
but some contents cannot run through it, so it should be targeted [13]
For example, in this class,
the direction of ion migration in solution is a macroscopic phenomenon that cannot be seen in
the experiment. Teachers need to use other methods to make up for the missing part of the big
concept teaching design. [14]. On the whole, guided by big concepts, guiding teaching design is
helpful to the construction of students ' energy transformation concept and the developmentof
subject core literacy [15]. We need to continue to learn, develop more content to integrate into
a big concept, so that students ' learning more depth and breadth.
Chinese students ' cognition of primary batteries needs to be further deepened in elective
courses, and the relevant core literacy goals of disciplines cannot be achieved throughone or
two classes. It is necessary to construct unit teaching content in combination with relevant
content in the elective stage, design teaching as a whole, and combine teaching content with
students ' cognitive characteristics [15], so as to gradually develop students ' core literacy of
disciplines.
Each curriculum reform in China represents the progress of the times and also puts forward
new requirements for teacherdevelopment. It is necessary for Chinese experts and teachersof
various subjects to combine theory and practice to explore a path that belongs to the
development of students ' core literacy in China, so as to cultivate students ' correct values,
essential characters and key abilities.
References
[1] Zhuang Qianmin, Liu Bing, Zhang Xue. The teaching ofdeveloping students ' core literacy based on the
history of chemistry-Taking " colloid " as an example [J]. Chemistry Education (Chinese and English),
2019,40 (13) : 28-.
[2] Wiggins G, Mctighe J, Alexandria V. Understanding by Design (Expanded 2nd Ed). [ M].Association for
Supervision& Curriculun Development, 2005.
[3] Wang Zengchang.Review and Reflection on the 40-yearcurriculum reform process [ N]. China Teacher 's
Daily, 2018-07-04 (006).
[4] Ministry of Education of the People 's Republic of China. General High School Chemistry Curriculum
Standards (2020 Revision) [ S]. Beijing: People 's Education Press, 2018: 3-4. )
[5] Whiteley M. Big ideas:AClose Look at theAustralianHistory Curriculum from a Primary Teacher 's
Perspective[ J]. Agora, 2012,47 (1).
[6] Erickson H L. Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum and Instruction [M]. California:
Thousands of Oaks, 2000: 3.
[7] Chalmers C, Carter M, Cooper T, et al. Implementing ' BigIdeas ' to Advance the Teaching and Learning of
Science Technology, Engineering. Mathematics (STEM) [ J ].International Journal of Science &
Mathematics Education,2017,15 (1) : 25-43.
Page 8 of 8
184
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
[8] 8 Li Gang.Research on curriculum transformation of scientific concept [ D]. Northeast Normal University,
2019.
[9] XiaTian,Wang Shuwei,Wang Zhenzhen.Teaching design and practice of " chemical energy and electric
energy " unit under the guidance of big concept [ J]. Chemistry teaching, 2022(12): 48-52 + 58.
[10] Compiled by Wen Harun. Translated by Wei Yu. Principlesand concepts of science education. [ M].
Beijing: Science Popularization Press, 2011.
[11] Zhang Xinghua.Analysis of high school chemistry 'chemical energy and electrical energy 'teaching
design-based onliterature review from 2010 to 2020 [ J]. New Wisdom, 2021, (24): 101-102.
[12] Wen Harun 's science education with the concept of bigconcept [ M] Wei, translated into Beijing: Science
Popularization Press, 2016: 1,15,16.
[13] He Caixia.Discussion on the teaching of large concept unitoriented by core literacy of chemistry [ J].
Chemistry teaching, 2019, (11): 44-48.
[14] Han Bo and Zhang Xinghua.Research on high school chemistry teaching practice based on model
cognition-taking 'chemical energy and electric energy ' as an example [ J]. Research on mathematical,
physical and chemical problemsolving, 2021, (33): 86-8.
[15] Bruner J S, Lufburrow RA. The Process of Education [ M]. Harvard University Press, 1960.
[16] Erickson H. L. Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining and Instruction [ M]. California: Thousands
of Oaks,2000: 33-35.