Abstract:

With the emerging trend of high-quality and modern higher education, cultivating higher-order thinking skills among students has become an important strategy for higher education development. Based on our understanding of the connotation of higher-order thinking skills and STS (science, technology, and society) education, this study organized the known conditions in STS exercises using the relationship between physical, quantitative, characteristic, and idle conditions and the cultivation of higher-order thinking skills. Considering the fundamental laws of thermodynamics in physical chemistry as an example, a two-way list of knowledge points combined with STS education was established by integrating teaching objectives, learning situations, and STS exercise planning, which was conducive to higher-order thinking skill cultivation. Considering the type and difficulty of STS exercises, they were designed in the form of selection, adaptation, and self-compilation and practically applied in physical chemistry teaching. These STS exercises promoted the higher-order thinking skills of students via problem solving. Thus, this study provides a novel approach to improve the content and forms of physical chemistry exercises.

Key words: Higher-order thinking skills, Design and practice of STS exercise, Fundamental laws of thermodynamics