Journal of Chemical Education最新文献

This design-based reflection examines how integrating science practices and causal–mechanistic reasoning can strengthen constructive alignment in undergraduate chemistry. Using an evidence-centered design framework, we describe how a large-enrollment General Chemistry course was restructured around multidimensional learning performances─statements that integrate core ideas, practices, and causal reasoning into purposeful knowledge use. Rather than organizing instruction by topics or procedures, we aligned the curriculum, instruction, and assessment with the epistemic work of chemistry: modeling, explaining, and predicting phenomena. We illustrate this approach with a learning performance on phase changes, using it to show how coherence across curricular activity system components (e.g., interactive texts, collaborative tasks, assessments) was intentionally designed to support engagement with science practices and causal reasoning. Conjecture maps clarify the design logic and guide iterative refinement. Two vignettes (on delocalized bonding and chemical equilibrium) highlight emergent learning progressions that surfaced in this work. We conclude with four strategies to help instructors and departments adapt the approach. When anchored in science practices and disciplinary reasoning, constructive alignment becomes not just a design principle but an epistemic infrastructure that can support coherence, equity, and inclusion.

Student motivation plays a vital role in academic success, particularly in chemistry, which many undergraduates find challenging. This study evaluated the impact of 3D Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) on motivation and performance among first-year undergraduate chemistry students at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. For motivation, a quasi-experimental pretest-post-test design was used while, for performance, an experimental post-test only design was used. Students were assigned to either a control group, receiving traditional instruction, or a test group, experiencing the same instruction supplemented with 3D IVR using MEL VR software and head-mounted displays. Motivation was measured using the Chemistry Motivation Questionnaire II (CMQ-II), which assessed five dimensions: intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, self-determination, grade motivation, and career motivation. Performance was measured with a 30-question chemistry quiz, given after the VR exposure time was completed. For motivation, the test group showed statistically significant gains in overall motivation and in four of the five subscales, while the control group showed no significant change. Additionally, the test group outperformed the control group in the post-test comparison. These findings highlight the potential of IVR to enhance chemistry motivation and performance in higher education and suggest broader applications for immersive technologies in STEM teaching across Caribbean institutions.

Considerable tutor effort is put into providing feedback to students on assessments; however, low rates of engagement are a known problem in higher education. This study measured the impact of a new feedback design in a forensic chemistry assessment on engagement and grade distribution across three cohorts (2023–25) using data from a virtual learning environment. In the assessment, students examine a mock police exhibit, a questioned document and two pens, in a laboratory practical using Raman and FTIR spectroscopy and a Visual Spectral Comparator, and then write the results up in an expert witness statement. Under the new feedback design, a feedback opportunity was given on a draft submission of the statement, rather than after the final summative submission. Across ∼100 students in each cohort, the rate of feedback uptake improved from 7% to 98%. Although the difference between the mean grades between cohorts was not statistically significant, the grade profile improved. Students in 2023/24 also completed an online survey to assess their perceptions of the new feedback design. This revealed that the new design increased their confidence when tackling the final assessment. A face-to-face session where students could clarify and discuss any feedback comments with the tutor enabled the feedback to be viewed as a collaborative and two-way process.

This study formulates interdisciplinary project-based learning (IDPBL) activities for high school third-year students, centered on the theme of “Investigating Nitrogen Fixation through a Scientific Exploration Lens”. The project systematically addresses the mechanisms of biological and chemical nitrogen fixation, industrial condition optimization, and biomimetic innovation design. Through four key instructional modules, including exploration of molecular structures, analysis of condition optimization, biomimetic catalyst design, and future prospects, the activity integrates visualization tools and cutting-edge case studies to guide students in understanding the stability of the nitrogen–nitrogen triple bond, the selection rationale for ammonia synthesis reaction conditions, and the significance of interdisciplinary integration. Implementation results demonstrate that students successfully established a “structure determines properties” cognitive model, mastered thermodynamic and kinetic approaches to optimizing industrial production, and proposed innovative solutions such as electrochemical biomimetic nitrogen fixation. The findings validate the remarkable effectiveness of IDPBL in enhancing students’ scientific literacy, innovation capacity, and problem-solving skills, providing a practical reference for science education reform.

In recent years, flow chemistry has gained recognition as an efficient and safer method for chemical synthesis in research laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry. Despite its advantages, its integration into educational settings has been limited to a select few institutions. This slow adoption is primarily due to the challenge of transitioning from traditional batch-based experiments, which have been entrenched in curricula for decades. In our efforts to modernize chemical education, we implemented a diazonium-based laboratory experiment from the literature to teach fundamental concepts of organic reactions and chemical kinetics. However, ensuring the reproducibility of results in a classroom setting proved difficult. This work looks into the key factors affecting reproducibility in this context, especially the reaction protocol and kinetics. We discovered from earlier studies on azo coupling that the pH is critical to the success of this teaching experiment. With the updated protocol and corrected kinetics, we observed an improvement in student performance. Based on the kinetics, we developed a digital twin of the experiment, which was evaluated by students taking this class. We aim to teach students to critically evaluate literature while expanding access and fostering equity in chemical education, particularly within underrepresented communities.

Case studies (CS) and creative exercises (CEs) are two established methodologies grounded in constructivist theory, designed to promote student-centric learning and assessment. Cases provide an engaging real-life context to conceptual knowledge, while CEs, produced as statements deciphering a given situation/prompt, encourage the learner to make meaningful linkages across various concepts, making knowledge more coherent and structured. Natural contexts are typically concept-rich situations, and the study described here explores an integrated application of both methods to offer general chemistry students a context-driven vehicle for problem-solving, linking, and cross-cutting of concepts. Three case studies were developed for this purpose and were deployed as team-based assessments. The CE statements produced for each were coded, and Gephi visual maps were produced to analyze the conceptual linkages formed by students in each of the three contexts. The data showed that the students made effective usage of CE as a tool to provide conceptual explanation of the various tangible facets of the given contexts, while also generating integrated and cross-cutting responses. The impact of these exercises on summative learning was qualitatively assessed using a CE-problem in the final exam of the course. Student feedback indicated an overall positive impact on both learning and attitudes toward the subject.

In this Perspective, I consider how our field can take principled actions to align our ways of designing and refining courses with our oft-stated goal for chemistry learning to be useful in daily life. To do so, I make three interrelated arguments. First, I argue achieving this goal will require a particular focus on epistemologies: “[people’s] systems of beliefs [tacit or explicit] about (1) the nature of knowledge and (2) the processes of knowing” [ Educ. Psychol. 2011, 46 (3), 141]. Specifically, this goal requires that students (tacitly) experience symmetry between ways of knowing and learning valued in-class and ways of knowing and learning useful in life beyond school. Second, we should compile our sense of useful epistemologies from empirical accounts of people and communities using chemistry to advance personally or professionally meaningful goals: a claim that way of thinking X is useful to dentists should be supported by observations of or interviews with dentists, for example. Third, achieving this goal requires understanding how our course designs communicate allowed epistemologies. Such understandings will enable us to refine our courses such that they better approximate aspects of students’ post-school daily lives.

A drug discovery project has been successfully implemented into a first-year undergraduate organic chemistry course. In this experiment, students play the role of medicinal chemists in the drug development process, in which they are responsible for synthesizing a small library of salicylic acid and ester derivatives and analyzing the antibacterial properties of their compounds against Escherichia coli, for the purpose of finding a compound with relevant biological activity. By using synthetic techniques, peer collaboration, student-led decision making, and biological activity assessment, students are required to work together and think critically about their results to solve an interdisciplinary research problem.

Gallic acid (GA) with strong antioxidant and antibacterial properties has been widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, excessive GA may induce gastrointestinal irritation and impose metabolic burdens on the liver and kidneys. Herein, we developed a novel electrochemical sensor based on the single-walled carbon nanotubes@zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 decorated electrode (SCT@ZMF/GCE) for the ultrasensitive detection of GA. SCT with a hollow nanotube structure provided excellent conductivity properties because of the interconnected conductive carbon networks, and ZMF nanoparticles with high porosity exhibited strong adsorption capacity for GA molecules. SCT@ZMF/GCE displayed exceptional GA detection (Linear detection range: 0.1–30 μM; limit of detection: 7.84 nM). This comprehensive innovative experiment was designed for senior undergraduate students majoring in materials science, chemistry, and other related fields. This experiment contains a literature review, nanocomposite preparation, material characterization, electrochemical detection, and data processing. Integrating this experiment into undergraduate teaching will help participants achieve the following objectives: (1) understanding the importance of GA concentration for human health; (2) designing a simple, low-cost, and innovative GA analysis method; (3) optimizing the electrochemical detection condition; and (4) mastering the GA detection mechanism and strengthening the experimental skills and scientific literacy.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) announces a free resource in e-Textbook format – Laboratory Safety for Chemistry Students, third Edition (LSCS3). LSCS3 is organized using the RAMP protocol - an acronym for Recognize hazards, Assess risks of hazards, Minimize risks of hazards, and Prepare for emergencies. This e-Textbook is designed with flexibility for undergraduate safety instruction. A supporting Web site describes quizzes, templates, and other features to facilitate using LSCS3.