Spotlight on Honors Chemistry

Late on a Wednesday afternoon at Stuart Hall School, most of Old Main is pretty quiet. In the chemistry lab, however, class is still going on for seven brave students taking honors chemistry.

Philosophically, honors courses at Stuart Hall are different from those at other schools. STU's honors classes challenge students to master one or more new skills that build upon those previously studied. There is no pressure or expectation for students to enroll in an honors class unless they are authentically interested in learning more by doing more.

When chemistry teacher Daniel Snyder first presented the honors curriculum to his chemistry students, then, he was clear that the main prerequisite for success was a desire to spend time in the lab.

The lab skills that honors chemistry students practice go above and beyond those taught during the school day. On this particular day, Mr. Snyder has asked students to leverage several discrete skills to determine whether the compounds in solution are ionically or covalently bonded. This is a topic with which they are theoretically familiar, but they have no experience finding the answer empirically.

Mr. Snyder is a big believer in “failing forward,” so his instructions are far from prescriptive. This is no accident. The goal is not to teach students how to follow directions; it is to guide them toward doing real science by making real choices in a real laboratory. This approach places Mr. Snyder’s students in what psychologists term the “zone of proximal development,” the space where learning most efficiently happens because it involves the right amount of discomfort.

As students complete their lab around 5:00, Mr. Snyder instructs them to compose a detailed report for homework. They will each give and receive a round of peer review, then submit drafts to the teacher for his feedback and a grade. If there is a dimension of the lab that students want to try again, Mr. Snyder will almost assuredly give them the opportunity—after all, the proverbial light goes on for different people at different times.

For students willing to prepare in advance, show up on time, work hard, and get a little uncomfortable, mastery learning rewards their efforts tenfold.