Greening the chemistry curriculum in Maltese educational institutions: the reaction of pre-university students to the introduction of green chemistry. A case study from Malta

Green chemistry is based on a set of radical ideas that overlap with the principles of sustainability and propose a modern version of chemistry that is less toxic, less hazardous, highly efficient and non-polluting. Literature suggests that green chemistry started being taught in universities but was later adapted to lower levels of education. It appears that little research has been done on the impact of green chemistry on students studying chemistry at post-sixteen.

This research project is a case study investigating the reaction of a group of Maltese sixth form students to the introduction of green chemistry. It involved the design and implementation of an intervention package to introduce some basic ideas of green chemistry in the classroom and school laboratory. Data were gathered from the participants before and after the intervention through the use of questionnaires, focus groups, research diary and other documents. Similar data were also collected from a second group of students from the same cohort which did not experience the same intervention. A conceptual framework was developed to analyse the attitudinal data while an evaluation scheme was used to analyse the knowledge and understanding data. The effectiveness of the intervention package was assessed using one of the models of educational evaluation.

Results of the analysis show that green chemistry raised the students’ environmental awareness and their interest in the subject, and may influence also their motivation to follow a chemistry-related career. Students were particularly interested in the practical side of green chemistry. With green chemistry students also developed a more positive perspective of chemistry. They thought that green chemistry had the potential to close the gap between a traditional curriculum and one that emphasized the impact of chemistry on society. Students strongly supported the inclusion of green chemistry in future A-level chemistry curricula.