Seeking evidence for "Curricular Relevancy" within undergraduate, liberal arts chemistry textbooks

Interviews with representatives of nine municipal agencies involved in air-quality education were analyzed for concepts and skills perceived as important for citizens in addressing air-quality concerns. Interviewees focused mainly on general air quality-related understandings (60.2%), although cognitive skills (22.0%) and specific concepts (17.8%) were also mentioned. The major categories of desired air-quality understandings identified in interviews included sources, impact, detection, and transport of air pollutants. Identified cognitive skills focused on information-gathering and -evaluating abilities, enabling informed air-quality decision making. Eight Learning Goal Sets generated from interview data and validated via peer and member checks helped guide a content analysis of six undergraduate liberal arts chemistry textbooks. Overall, sampled chemistry textbooks supported the previously identified air-quality concepts and skills. However, few textbooks directly confronted interviewee-reported, air quality-related misconceptions and inabilities. Instructional and research implications of these validated air-quality learning goals and subsequent textbook analyses are discussed. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.