ASSESSMENT IN CHEMISTRY/NEW STRATEGIES FOR NEW TIMES

New paradigms for chemistry instruction increasingly diversify what was once a narrowly focused view of what chemistry is and how it should be taught. Conceptual understanding is replacing algorithmic computation in
many courses. Others are focusing on cooperative learning and team projects. Others are returning the laboratory to a central role in instruction. The body of knowledge considered appropriate for introductory chemistry is changing, with, for example, great interest in a materials science focus in some quarters and biological chemistry in others. These instructional changes mandate significant change both in what is assessed in chemistry and how that assessment is done. New question formats, new assessment delivery systems, and new assessment objectives are supplementing those that have been used and valued in the past. The result is that chemistry instructors can do a better job than ever in matching assessment with curricula.