Paul Bonvallet teaches general and organic chemistry at the College of Wooster in Ohio.
I have a colleague who believes that the world will never need another general chemistry textbook. Their skepticism is understandable, given that the content of high school and first-year college courses is practically standardized nationwide, basic scientific knowledge changes slowly, and adopting new course materials raises thorny logistical questions. I would counterbalance that opinion with the concept from ancient Greek philosophy that it’s impossible to step into the same river twice (it’s never the same water, and you’re never the same person). For as long as human beings have gathered for the purpose of teaching and learning, educational context and methods have always been changing. Textbooks can support us by keeping pace with those changes.
I therefore see an opportunity, instead of a challenge, with the new trio of general chemistry offerings from Gilbert and coauthors at Norton Chemistry: the Seventh Edition of Chemistry: The Science in Context, the Fourth Edition of Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach, and the Second AP® Edition of Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach. I am deeply familiar with these materials after having done chapter reviews for The Science in Context, teaching from the college edition of An Atoms-Focused Approach, and helping to update the exam-prep practice questions in the latter’s AP® Edition.
My experience as a college professor is that no two classes are ever identical, even though I teach the same courses every year. I’m constantly noting what worked well and what improvements I might make next time. Over the past 23 years, “what I teach” has largely remained constant, while “who I teach” and “how I teach” are in a continuous state of transformation. That reflection brings me back to the idea that the best chemistry classes (and the best chemistry textbooks by association) are not mere vehicles for delivering content, but tools for acknowledging the role of science in a complex and interconnected world made up of, among other things, human beings.
At the risk of understatement, I think that teachers and students often have different priorities. I have never encountered a student with strong opinions about whether they learn kinetics before or after thermodynamics, or which theory best explains expanded-octet structures, or whether quantum mechanics should occur early or late in the text. Fortunately, there are still many ways in which the viewpoints of instructors and students align perfectly. I’d like to share a few of those humancentric areas of agreement that can be supported by an effective textbook.
- Good storytelling is essential. There’s a clear organizational logic behind The Science in Context, but my department and I are longtime fans of An Atoms-Focused Approach. We feel like we’re teaching in a streaming television series where each class is an episode that advances a long-term story arc about combining particles to make atoms, then joining atoms to form compounds, then observing one molecule’s interaction with another, and ultimately exploring the rich details of making and breaking bonds. The governing concepts behind structure and reactivity are a through line that lasts for the entire year. If you’re looking for a high school textbook specifically designed for AP® Chemistry that uses the “atoms first” storytelling perspective, the AP® Edition of Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach offers that unique combination.
- Teachers have standards. Every chapter in The Science in Context and An Atoms-Focused Approach begins with Learning Outcomes appliable to state curricula, benchmarks from the American Chemical Society, and the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). For AP® Chemistry instructors, there’s a textbook designed especially for your course that matches the College Board curricular framework. These standards and learning goals may not be at the forefront of every student’s mind, but they add a clear structure and progression of ideas that make for a coherent course aligned with the AP® exam.
- Relevance is the currency of learning. It’s easier to engage students in chemical theory when the topic is connected to everyday life. For instance, in the new Gilbert offerings the gas-law chapters include graphical and textual descriptions of scuba-diving tanks, hot-air balloons, automobile air bags, barometric pressure in hurricanes, and gas-exchange processes in the lungs. I have curated my own collection of relevant examples over the years, but I always appreciate when the textbook helps me out with new illustrative examples.
- Conceptual thinking is essential. In my two decades with the AP® Chemistry program, I have seen the exam and curriculum change in response to a national mandate for greater emphasis on conceptual understanding over factual recall and algorithmic problem solving. Today’s students are asked to construct and interpret models, engage in scientific argumentation, and analyze experimental methods in addition to employing mathematical routines.
These practices are easiest to spot in the AP® Edition of Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach, but they are deeply integrated into all of the Gilbert textbooks. Phenomena such as phase changes and equilibrium reactions are explained with multi-representational models (macroscopic, particle-level, and symbolic), supported by clear text and detailed graphics. Teachers who have adopted the Modeling Instruction approach or the CLUE (chemistry, life, the universe, and everything) curriculum will find this style of instruction particularly well aligned with their classes. The interactive ChemTours visualization tools, integrated into the Smartwork online homework platform, also include helpful animations and scaffolded instruction on complex topics such as intermolecular forces and electrochemical cells.
- Problem solving is a skill that can be learned. As much as I admire (and envy) someone who can answer a question from pure intuition, most of my students need a reliable framework for solving problems. The COAST method (Collect and Organize, Analyze, Solve, and Think about it) is used in every sample exercise and homework problem solution within the Gilbert texts. This type of concrete, consistent strategy helps at every step of the problem-solving process, from “Where do I begin?” to “Is my answer reasonable?” Teachers and students alike can find assurance in a structured yet flexible approach that can be applied to any type of problem.
- Effective practice leads to effective performance. Learning chemistry is like mastering a sport or a musical instrument: As you practice, so shall you play. I appreciate textbooks that help novice learners with sample exercises, where the solution is worked out and annotated to illustrate the problem-solving strategy. As readers gain experience, the end-of-chapter problems help to identify their areas of accomplishment and areas for growth. The challenge problems, denoted by an asterisk in the Gilbert textbooks, engage students in more cognitively advanced tasks.
There is a wealth of high-quality problems that parallel those from American Chemical Society exams or the MCAT. I am best acquainted with the AP® Practice Questions in the AP® Edition of An Atoms-Focused Approach, which have been updated and expanded to match the content and format of multiple-choice and free-response questions in the modern exam. Getting students familiar with a particular style of practice problems can help to soothe nerves on high-stakes exams.
- Chemistry is for everybody. Biographical profiles in the side margins of a textbook can send powerful messages about what a scientist looks like and who can participate in STEM. One of my favorite examples is from An Atoms-Focused Approach. It contains a short feature with side-by-side photographs of physicist Max Planck and molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, who recently earned a research award that bears Planck’s name. There’s a beautiful symmetry in these two profiles of a man and a woman, a physicist and a biologist, and a historical figure and a modern practitioner. In addition to the classic example of Rosalind Franklin, I appreciate the profiles of important but under-recognized scientists such as Nobel laureate Moungi Bawendi, spectroscopist Alma Levant Hayden, and meteorologist Anna Mani. Advancing a broader representation in science reminds me of the famous words of tennis champion, Billie Jean King: “You have to see it to be it.”
- Science is collaborative. Not even in the research lab of a chemistry Nobel laureate did I ever see a lone genius working in isolation. Sections of the Gilbert texts both imply and state outright that STEM professionals work in a cooperative community. Photographic features and sample exercises highlight groups such as the James Webb Space Telescope team and anticancer researchers at Sandia National Laboratories. Teachers who use POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) and other peer-learning frameworks can draw on these examples to reinforce the importance of teamwork in a professional setting. The theme of working together is so ingrained that the front cover photograph of An Atoms-Focused Approach features a pair of scientists in a laboratory.
A report on workforce readiness reveals that the traits most valued by employers are interpersonal and cognitive skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and application of knowledge. From a certain standpoint, this finding feels incredibly challenging: We have to teach chemistry and social skills? But certainly the two can be integrated, and some of our current classroom practices likely bring these collateral benefits already. There’s also some reassurance in the idea that we don’t have to nurture higher-order skills in isolation. A textbook that aligns with our educational vision, uses modern pedagogy, and highlights the human elements of chemistry can be a powerful tool.
When I learn that a textbook has released a new edition, I still experience conflicting emotions. There’s a defensive part of me that resists change and instinctively tries to keep stepping into the same river twice. There’s also an irrepressible corner of my mind that keeps asking how I can grow as an educator. Given the ever-changing nature of teaching and learning, maybe updating my course materials is not an inconvenience, but a necessity. I let my educational principles and priorities guide me, and I hope you will do the same no matter which textbook you select. I wish you and your students the best in your human journeys together.
Interested in considering Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach for your AP® course? Learn more here. Explore additional offerings from Norton Chemistry here.
AP® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Paul Bonvallet teaches general and organic chemistry at the College of Wooster in Ohio. He has published research in photochemistry and stimulus-responsive materials with undergraduate coauthors. As chief reader for the AP® Chemistry program, he worked with a team of teachers that designed the exam and updated the Course and Exam Description that defines the curriculum.