Specialization, Chemistry, and Poetry: Challenging Chemistry Boundaries

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2013

Authors

João Carlos Paiva (Author) FCUP; Carla Morais (Author) FCUP; Luciano Moreira (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Journal of Chemical Education

Vol. 90 No. 4

Pages: 1577-1579

ISSN: 0021-9584

Publisher: American Chemical Society

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 9 Citations

Scopus - 8 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Social sciences > Educational sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-006-J8P

DOI: 10.1021/ed4003089

Abstract (EN): Modern societies moved towards academic and professional specialization, and human activity has been rigidly structured and split. The enduring gap between science and art, which academic curricula mirror and sustain, reproduces rather than changes the patterns of social inclusion and exclusion. In this commentary, we review some empirical endeavors to merge poetry with chemistry from an ecological, developmental, and constructivist perspective. It seems Important to involve students in structured activities promoting a socio-historical understanding of the opportunities and constraints acting on chemistry, the significance of chemistry theories and methods, and a holistic approach to chemistry as a field of self-expression and social commitment. By merging poetry with chemistry, we expect not only that students learn chemistry, but also that they develop scientific literacy skills as well as a more critical view on the co-extensiveness of modern challenges.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 3