The Connection between the Local Chemistry Curriculum and Chemistry Terms in the Global News: The Glocalization Perspective

The purpose of chemistry education in elementary and secondary school is not only to inspire some students to be professional scientists but also to prepare all students to be savvy consumers of the chemistry that is part of our everyday lives. This development of the public's chemistry literacy has been a long-standing goal of chemistry educators and researchers. In this global age where chemistry and technology dominate, it is vital that all people, including non-science majors, understand common scientific issues in the media. Also, the content of chemistry-related news may influence people's conceptions about chemistry. However, little is known about the connection between chemistry curriculum and the content of chemistry news. In this chapter, we introduced a research study that has been carried out using keywords in chemistry to show their connection between chemistry-related news reports and school chemistry curricula. Local news reported by the three major newspapers (i.e., United Daily News, The China Times, and The Liberty Times) in Taiwan were the local target data sources analyzed. The international newspapers included The New York Times and The Times. The results showed that there was a disparity in the distribution of terms used in the international and local newspapers and the chemistry curricula guidelines in Taiwan. How to eliminate the gap between the knowledge used in one's daily life and in school chemistry instruction needs to be addressed by reforms in the chemistry curriculum. The results shed light on the need to bridge formal school chemistry with chemistry in everyday life and on efforts toward glocalization in chemistry education.