Chemistry Education Research and Practice最新文献

Student difficulties with the curly-arrow model in mechanistic organic chemistry have been the subject of a great deal of research. The inclusion of curly arrow mechanisms in an organic chemistry curriculum presents an opportunity for students to develop skills in problem solving which are useful both in higher education and employment so the topic has utility beyond content knowledge. An arrows first approach to organic mechanism has been suggested as an effective teaching strategy to prevent the development of misconceptions which may undermine a student's achievement and cause difficulties with further study. Through the lens of the A-level in chemistry, a regulated national qualification covering significant mechanistic chemistry content, we have evaluated a range of evidence to explore how mechanistic organic chemistry is taught. Taking a holistic overview of the curriculum we show that many aspects of the curriculum support an arrows first approach to teaching including the implemented and assessed curriculum, both influenced by examination boards. However we also found that a much larger proportion of teaching time, effort and assessment is devoted to case-study mechanisms, generally organised by functional group. These may be memorised by students, undermining an arrows first focus. Moreover, although we found our sample of teacher respondents were generally positive about teaching the fundamentals of the curly arrow model we also found a lack of accessible classroom resources and professional development to support teaching using an arrows first approach. In light of the published aims of the A-level in chemistry, this research has implications for policy and practice in the 16–18 chemistry curriculum for educators, examination boards and regulators.

Chemistry education has begun to consider disciplinary practices as complementary to traditional instruction of content knowledge. A challenge in this, however, is that our understanding of the latter is far more developed: given a canonical question, it is more obvious to instructors whether a student's reasoning is correct than if it reflects productive approaches to sensemaking. In this study, we investigated how expert chemists approach sensemaking when challenged with a novel question. Here we focus on a prominent aspect of the results, the experts’ pervasive use of analogies, defined as explicit references to previous knowledge from other situations. The findings reinforce the importance of analogical reasoning in disciplinary expertise. Descriptions of how chemists’ reason in novel situations will help educators recognize the productivity of students’ sensemaking independent of its correctness.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) allow all students to engage in undergraduate research experiences and gain important skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. The goal of this work was to design a CURE-inspired project for an upper-level analytical chemistry laboratory course that engaged students in novel research to detect and quantify the amount of nitrate and nitrite in indoor surface films. The students searched for and read literature on indoor surface films, collected samples from a location of their choosing, quantitatively analyzed the samples with HPLC, and created a customer report to describe their findings. Two semesters of implementation revealed that the project successfully engaged students in elements of the research process and met many of the learning goals. Student focus group interviews revealed that students were personally invested in the research process because they were investigating indoor spaces where they spend a lot of time and that they perceived this laboratory experience to resemble that of authentic research.

In recent years, science teaching has mostly taken the form of inquiry. Thus, learners are more involved in the construction of their knowledge and skills, as these activities imply a constructivist approach. Although this method has shown certain advantages over traditional methods, it poses implementation difficulties for teachers. Moreover, different levels of guidance can be proposed, ranging from very closed inquiries, close to classic practical work, to more open-ended situations. In this paper, we are interested in the implementation of an inquiry by a secondary school chemistry teacher (year 10). We attempt to cross-reference qualitative data (observation of his classroom inquiry) with quantitative data collected from a questionnaire on his teaching. Is what the teacher does in the classroom consistent with what he says about his practice? How does he implement inquiry in his classroom session? We use the theoretical frameworks of PCK and the theory of joint action in didactics to try to answer our questions. This inquiry focuses on ion recognition tests conducted as a police investigation. This study shows that there is an inconsistency between what he implements in the classroom and his discourse on science teaching.

This study explores the impact of cognitive scaffolding on group learning to establish the effective use of Marzano's taxonomy as both a diagnostic and developmental tool. Using the cognitive levels of processing as defined by Marzano's taxonomy, activities in an introductory chemistry course were revised to embed support in the structure of questions. Data was collected from two cohorts: Cohort 1, which engaged with original activities, and Cohort 2, which used our cognitively scaffolded activities. The ICAP framework provided the theoretical framework for analyzing social processing, knowledge dynamics, and modes of reasoning within the groups. Findings suggest that cognitive scaffolding helped sustain higher cognitive engagement while promoting the use of reasoning during higher-order questions. While social dynamics did not show as pronounced changes, these findings demonstrate the potential of cognitive scaffolding to support student learning. The study additionally highlights the nuanced nature of collaborative learning, with factors such as group composition, course climate, and facilitation methods influencing engagement outcomes.

Chemistry academic engagement plays a crucial role in shaping students’ academic performance and long-term motivation for learning. The chemistry growth mindset is regarded as a fundamental psychological construct for fostering such engagement. Although previous studies have provided preliminary evidence for the association between growth mindset and academic engagement, the underlying mechanisms within the context of chemistry education have not been extensively examined. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the multiple mediating pathways involving chemistry adaptability (cognitive-behavioural and affective), chemistry academic buoyancy, and chemistry achievement emotions (enjoyment and anxiety) in the relationship between chemistry growth mindset and chemistry academic engagement. A multiple mediation model was constructed based on prior theories and empirical studies. Data were collected from high school students (N = 1049) using scales to measure the relevant variables. The results indicated that: (1) chemistry growth mindset significantly positively influenced students’ chemistry academic engagement; (2) chemistry cognitive-behavioural adaptability, chemistry affective adaptability, and chemistry academic buoyancy all functioned as significant mediators in this relationship; (3) chemistry enjoyment and chemistry anxiety were identified as positive and negative mediators, respectively; and (4) chemistry growth mindset was found to be indirectly associated with chemistry academic engagement through sequential mediation paths involving adaptability or buoyancy and subsequent emotional responses. This study elucidates the mechanism by which growth mindset shapes academic engagement through adaptability, buoyancy, and achievement emotions, thus contributing to a deeper theoretical understanding of how students’ psychological traits shape their engagement. Finally, the study provides pedagogical implications and suggests avenues for future research based on the findings.

In this multi-case study, the ChatGPT interaction profiles of participants with varying years of teaching experience were examined during lesson planning for the topic of acids and bases. Six participants (i.e., two senior pre-service science teachers, one induction year science teacher, two experienced science teachers, and an experienced science teacher educator) participated in the study. A lesson plan in the Content Representation (CoRe) format, a copy of dialogue with ChatGPT (i.e., conversation history with ChatGPT), a reflection paper on details of the lesson planning with ChatGPT, and online focus group interview data were collected from all participants. Both deductive and inductive analyses of the multiple data sources revealed four profiles, namely, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-reliant planners, AI-collaborative planners, AI-assisted plan refiners, and AI-independent planners. The profiles differed from each other in terms of the flow of lesson planning with AI, the interaction purposes of the participants with ChatGPT during lesson planning, and the extent to which the participants incorporated the content provided by ChatGPT into their lesson plan preparation. In light of the results, science pre-service teachers and teachers should be trained on what AI can offer them, how AI tools can be effectively utilized in science education, and the ethical considerations of AI use.

In 2015 the UK introduced a degree level apprenticeship framework that included creation of a Laboratory Scientist apprenticeship standard to meet demands within the chemical workforce. Here, we review our experience of a Laboratory Scientist (Chemistry) degree apprenticeship against a traditional BSc programme through presenting a case study that compares the progression of students enrolled on these two chemistry degrees. Both courses shared the same BSc degree curriculum and content, however, the traditional BSc course was delivered as a full-time course and the apprenticeship as a part-time, online course. The course content, learning objectives and assessment structures were identical for the majority of these two programmes. During the pandemic, the mode of delivery on the two courses became closely aligned enabling a meaningful comparison of learner attainment. We found that the module enrolment pass rate was significantly higher for the part-time apprentice students, demonstrating that vocation-linked learning is a vital tool in our educational arsenal and which suggests more focus should be given to the support and growth of degree level apprenticeship programmes.

Chemistry is a foundational discipline for many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. In the U.S. there are too few undergraduates completing majors in chemistry to meet current and projected labor force needs. Moreover, neither the chemistry workforce nor undergraduate majors are representative of the U.S. population's demographics. There is scant research on the pre-collegiate factors that contribute to choosing a chemistry major. This paper contributes to the research record with a qualitative study that applies a science capital lens to an investigation of the pre-collegiate factors associated with majoring in chemistry. Using a set of in-depth interviews with a self-selected sample of 12 undergraduates slated to earn a BS in chemistry from one of many campuses of the University of North Carolina, this study examined students’ experiences in families, communities, and schools in the years prior to their matriculation to their college campus. Our findings are consistent with the concept of science capital, which we extend by demonstrating that successful chemistry majors have greater stores of a more specific element of the science capital framework, namely knowledge about the transferability of chemistry. The article concludes with a set of recommendations to augment secondary students’ science capital and by doing so, is likely to increase the number of undergraduates majoring in chemistry.

Designing effective laboratory courses that take prior knowledge and experience into account are important for reducing inequalities and skill gaps within higher education. Whilst many anecdotal trends are known, this study aims to provide quantitative confirmation of skill gaps within first year undergraduate students. Students that studied A-level chemistry considered themselves both more experienced and more confident in a number of lab skills when compared to students who had completed either Scottish Highers or the International Baccalaureate—with skills involving more sophisticated equipment the most likely to differ. A similar relationship was observed between private and state funded schooling respectively, perhaps linked to the fact that a much higher proportion of A-level respondents were privately educated. International students displayed similar experience and confidence in general lab skills compared to students from the UK, but were less confident in their written and spoken English skill—despite the fact that 91% of them completed their final school education in English. International students were also less confident in their ability to design experimental methodologies. Covid-19 continues to have an impact on recent student cohorts, with Scottish students experiencing higher levels of disruption. It is hoped that confirmation of these long-held preconceptions, and the identification of the specific lab skills that vary most with educational background, will help future course design provide focused support to the students who need it most.