Chemistry people who are familiar with Apologia and the new one by Dr Wile ...

[Momto6inIN]

I have the 2nd edition of Apologia chemistry (the old one by Dr Wile not the new updated Apologia one that got bad reviews). Oldest DS used it last year and we liked it. But 2nd DS is coming up to chemistry next year and I'm tempted to buy the new Dr Wile text, Discovering Design. What can I say ... it's new ... it's shiny ... Lol

 

I've read the threads that discuss the differences between the two, mainly that the new one uses a better organizational atoms first approach and that it has better experiments. My question is: Are the differences pronounced enough that it would be worthwhile to purchase it when I already have the other?

 

Thanks!

 

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[Pistachio mom]

I am also researching these two books and would love to see some responses. 

[Momto6inIN]

I had messaged Dr Wile himself on FB when DD first came out and he said while he thought DD was a definite improvement and obviously he wanted me to purchase his new book 😉, content wise there was no reason to buy DD if I already owned the 2nd edition.

 

I was just hoping to hear from users if DD was significantly better from a teaching standpoint.

 

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[cbollin]

momto5inIN,

 

I remember a thread where dhudson from this forum had used 2nd edition and then also was using DD at the time. I'm having a tech issue on my side with trying to link to her post.. so I'll copy and paste.(been one of those days on this old desktop, sorry)  quote is from feb of 2016 she said "It is certainly more challenging and rigorous than Apologia Chemistry which I did with my oldest. There seems to be a lot more equations and math, and there are definitely better experiments and more of them. It has pushed my very science minded kids which I find a good thing. It does have some online helps, videos and lectures which we have used to explain some of the concepts."

 

I don't know if her comments are helpful to anyone.  My middle gal was done with 2nd edition about the time the new book was being released.  So I didn't have to decide any of this. youngest has to use non rigorous materials due to learning/special needs. 

[Momto6inIN]

momto5inIN,

 

I remember a thread where dhudson from this forum had used 2nd edition and then also was using DD at the time. I'm having a tech issue on my side with trying to link to her post.. so I'll copy and paste.(been one of those days on this old desktop, sorry)  quote is from feb of 2016 she said "It is certainly more challenging and rigorous than Apologia Chemistry which I did with my oldest. There seems to be a lot more equations and math, and there are definitely better experiments and more of them. It has pushed my very science minded kids which I find a good thing. It does have some online helps, videos and lectures which we have used to explain some of the concepts."

 

I don't know if her comments are helpful to anyone.  My middle gal was done with 2nd edition about the time the new book was being released.  So I didn't have to decide any of this. youngest has to use non rigorous materials due to learning/special needs. 

 

This is helpful thank you! My oldest DS would have profited from a chemistry with more math and some pushing in science, but 2nd DS will be fine with something a little less rigorous.

[SoCal_Bear]

FWIW, the Chemistry teacher at my co-op just made the switch from Apologia 2nd edition to Dr. Wile's new text. She said it is much better now as she had replaced a fair number of the labs with ones that she thought were better and a more solid high school college prep textbook. 

 

[Alice]

I assist a Chemistry class at out co-op. The teacher is a Mom who has taught for a long time and is also a chemist by training. She switched to the new Dr. Wile book this year and I think she overall likes it much better. I can't speak to the specifics of why but I think she thinks it is better organized and a little bit meatier. She has always added things to the course that she thinks Apologia doesn't cover well and I think she still does some of that. She likes the labs better in the new book.

 

 

[mschickie]

I talked to him at convention about it last year.  He said some of the main changes were how the lessons are arranged in perspective to the math.  The math is now a little more gradual and you are not just hit with some of it.  He also updated the labs to use products that are easier to find today.  Back when the Apologia book was written it was easy to find some of the items and now some are more difficult to get (such as lye).