History of chemistry and scientific tourism as a means to increase students motivation to learn chemistry

Abstract

The present article discusses the problems related with the motivation of students to learn chemistry. The problems mentioned are common for Georgia and other countries. As a case study, the article will discuss the methodology of teaching chemistry as an introductory course at Ilia State University. The methodology is orientated on realization of some important didactic principles in teaching process which is very effective tool for increasing students' motivation to learn. Introducing foremost historical facts about the well-known chemists is very interesting for students as well. Such information helps students to get more insights about this complex discipline and chemistry becomes more interesting for them. The article also proposes the tools how to link chemistry education process with history, scientific tourism and other sciences. At the end, there will be demonstrated the results of the experiment carried out by the authors. The outcome of the pedagogical experiment has made it clear, that such a method of teaching chemistry affects positively on students motivation and changes their attitude towards the subject.