Chemistry Education Research and Practice最新文献

Recently, scholars have suggested a co-design collaboration with instructors and students to effectively implement formative assessment (FA) practices because it ensures a high-quality design that considers users’ needs, values, and goals in a specific learning context. This study examines the effect of co-designed FA practices, in which preservice science teachers (PSTs) are co-designers of FA practices, on promoting their conceptual understanding of chemistry topics in a first-year undergraduate chemistry laboratory course. Sixteen randomly selected PSTs participated in the study for two consecutive semesters. At the end of the first semester, a co-design of the FA practices was developed collaboratively with the PSTs upon the approach of conjecture mapping. Then, the second semester was devoted to examining the impact of the co-design-based FA environment on overcoming the PSTs’ alternative conceptions regarding selected four chemistry laboratory topics: thermochemistry, chemical kinetics, chemical equilibrium, acids and bases. This study employed a conversion mixed research design. To evaluate the co-design-based FA practices, PSTs’ alternative conceptions were identified through pre- and post-laboratory concept maps. The results obtained from both qualitative and quantitative data analyses showed that implementing the co-designed FA practices had a significant impact on overcoming most of the alternative conceptions held by the PSTs in all topics of laboratory investigations. This study strongly implies the inclusion of undergraduate students as active co-participants of the iterative reasoning process of the FA design to promote their understanding of chemical concepts in laboratory courses.

Providing students with feedback on their performance is a critical part of enhancing student learning in chemistry and is often integrated into homework assignments, quizzes, and exams. However, not all feedback is created equal, and the type of feedback the student receives can dramatically alter the utility of the feedback to reinforce correct processes and assist in correcting incorrect processes. This work seeks to establish a ranking of how eleven different types of testing feedback affected student retention or growth in performance on multiple-choice general chemistry questions. These feedback methods ranged from simple noncorrective feedback to more complex and engaging elaborative feedback. A test-retest model was used with a one-week gap between the initial test and following test in general chemistry I. Data collection took place at multiple institutions over multiple years. Data analysis used four distinct grading schemes to estimate student performance. These grading schemes included dichotomous scoring, two polytomous scoring techniques, and the use of item response theory to estimate students’ true score. Data were modeled using hierarchical linear modeling which was set up to control for any differences in initial abilities and to determine the growth in performance associated with each treatment. Results indicated that when delayed elaborative feedback was paired with students being asked to recall/rework the problem, the largest student growth was observed. To dive deeper into student growth, both the differences in specific content-area improvement and the ability levels of students who improved the most were analyzed.

Chemistry academic engagement has received considerable attention for its role in enhancing students’ learning and overall development. As a significant factor influencing students’ chemistry improvement, research on chemistry academic engagement has emerged as a focal point. However, the methods to improve students’ chemistry academic engagement remain limited until now. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the mechanisms of chemistry academic engagement, self-handicapping, chemistry academic buoyancy and teacher support, and offer suggestions to improve students’ academic engagement. We assumed a moderated mediation model and evaluated all variables for twelve different schools in China (N = 3344, Grade 10), then analyzed the data with structural equation models (SEM). The results suggested that (1) self-handicapping in chemistry negatively predicted chemistry academic engagement; (2) chemistry academic buoyancy moderated the relationship between chemistry academic engagement and self-handicapping to a certain extent, and this indirect effect was significant irrespective of teacher support levels; (3) instrumental support moderated the mediating process in the academic buoyancy to academic engagement pathway; (4) teacher emotional support moderated the direct and indirect pathways of the mediating process from self-handicapping in chemistry to chemistry academic engagement. Finally, we analyzed the results of this research, highlighted its educational significance, recognized the limitations and made recommendations for further research.

There is a decline in recent years in the number of students studying chemistry in higher education. Many studies have been conducted on elementary and high school students' choice with fewer focusing on the factors that influence undergraduate students to choose to major in chemistry. Research also indicates that belonging to a minority group influences the choice of pursuing science. Despite a higher percentage of Israeli Arab students studying chemistry in high school compared to Israeli Jewish students, the percentage of those who continue to study chemistry in higher education is small. They also lack sufficient representation in academia and industry. Analyzing the similarities and differences in the perceptions of Israeli Jewish and Arab students may shed light on the societal aspect and its role in shaping chemistry participation. This led us to ask the following questions concerning undergraduate chemistry students: (1) What are the factors that influence undergraduate chemistry students to choose a chemistry career? (2) What are the differences between Jewish and Arab undergraduate chemistry students in choosing chemistry career, if any? (3) How do the factors that influence chemistry career choice correlate, if at all? Guided by the social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we used quantitative and qualitative methods to identify and analyze factors and categories. These factors and categories were related to personal and environmental themes and influenced third-year chemistry undergraduate students to choose a chemistry career. 117 third-year undergraduate chemistry students took part in this research. The findings indicate that there are six major factors in choosing a career in chemistry by undergraduate students, which are divided into two themes, a personal theme, and an environmental theme. Our study shows that ‘self-efficacy – scientific/chemistry learning’ is secondary to students’ desire to complete an academic degree. The influence of their friends and family and extrinsic motivation related to rewards/status/prestige are more influential as well. When exploring differences between Israeli Jewish and Israeli Arab societies, our findings revealed variations in the factors influencing career choices. Our findings have practical implications for educational institutions aiming to foster a diverse and inclusive learning environment in chemistry education.

This qualitative study delves into the intricate landscape of general chemistry students' study strategy decision-making processes, examining the guiding factors that shape their choices. Past work in chemistry education has shown that students’ study behaviors are dynamic in nature. Employing self-regulation theory, the study aims to provide a deeper understanding of how students decide to maintain or change their study behaviors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture the study processes of nine students enrolled in first-semester general chemistry classroom. The results indicated these students’ study behavior decision-making process was either driven by metacognition or affect. Students who adopted metacognitive decision-making showed evidence of enactment of declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge which could be influenced by either the nature of the content studied (content-driven), or the time-efficiency of the strategies employed (time-driven) during their self-regulation. On the contrary, students who adopted affective decision-making based their choices regarding their study behaviors on the emotional aspects and the value they attribute to the study strategies (intrinsic-value or instrumental-value driven). The findings of the study are foundational yet highlight the nuanced nature of changes and constancy within the study strategy decision-making process. This suggests a one-size-fits-all approach to improve student study behaviors may not yield fruitful outcomes and therefore, distinct methods should be devised to reach students with different decision-making processes.

Many students find introductory general chemistry courses difficult because they feel alienated by traditional approaches to teaching and learning. This can become particularly problematic in laboratory sessions where students simply follow processes and procedures that students can view as being mundane and lacking creativity. Contextualised storytelling offers a novel pedagogical approach to help students connect and make sense of chemistry ideas in the context of their own life experiences. The current study implemented the CLEAR (chemistry learning via experiential academic reflection) approach to contextualised storytelling as a sequence of four assignments across a laboratory course for first-year students. The research explored students’ experiences writing contextualised stories to make sense of and learn chemistry. Using hermeneutics as a methodology, the data collected included participants’ written contextualised stories, semi-structured interview recordings, and field notes. While the CLEAR approach differs from other approaches to storytelling in chemistry education, the current study suggests that CLEAR can make positive contributions to student learning. The findings showed that, although many students initially resisted or felt confused by the new approach, CLEAR helped students see the connection and relevance of chemistry concepts to their lives. Students also recognized the importance of self-directed learning while writing their CLEAR stories, which suggests that CLEAR engaged students in learning that was active and organic. Furthermore, writing CLEAR stories supported students in talking to people about scientific concepts they learned in class, which suggests that writing the CLEAR stories: (a) helped students find the relevancy of the ideas to the degree that they felt they could share the ideas in their own words outside of class and (b) increased students’ interest in the course and what they were learning to the degree that they wanted to share it. Implementing CLEAR as multiple assignments across the course appears important and valuable because students refined their thinking and writing skills through iteration within and across CLEAR stories.

A goal in chemistry education research and teaching is to make chemistry education inclusive to our diverse students. Ethnography is one approach that can support this goal, because it supports researchers and educators in questioning what is considered ordinary by exploring chemistry as a culture. By exploring chemistry as a culture, we can understand how we represent the discipline of chemistry to our students in what we teach, how we teach, and who we teach. Questioning the ordinary aspects of research and teaching can help us work towards creating a more inclusive chemistry culture for our students, researchers, and instructors. Within this perspective, the authors explore ethnography as a research methodology and an approach to understanding experiences in practice. This perspective explores how different choices in research design, such as the research questions, theoretical framework, methods, and methodology framing, lead to different goals and representations of chemistry culture. This perspective aims to start conversations around what we can learn from different representations of chemistry culture for chemistry practice by questioning what is taken for granted in the learning theories chosen, approaches to interventions, and systematic barriers. In its potential to illuminate how chemistry culture is represented and transmitted to students, ethnography can help create more inclusive, accessible, and supportive spaces for learning and interdisciplinary research.

During COVID-19 remote instruction, instructors were tasked with providing students with authentic laboratory experiences in an out-of-classroom environment. One solution developed for our introductory general chemistry laboratory involved students critiquing readily available technique videos to distinguish between correct and incorrect laboratory technique. After returning to in-person labs in Fall 2021, we incorporated this assessment into the pre-lab assignments in an effort to reduce the cognitive load of learning a new technique. Here we explore whether this critical-review exercise translates into improved technique as measured by precision and accuracy when using a 10 mL volumetric pipet. Additionally, we consider the impact of the pre-lab assignment given the involvement level of the TA, as some TAs are more willing to provide feedback on student technique during the lab period. We found that while students self-report the exercise as useful towards their learning, there are no significant changes in performance for most students. We did, however, find a reduction in the overall outliers and saw improvements when additional feedback (through a TA) was provided as well. These findings indicate that the exercise may be most useful for students who make large errors and who receive little individualized feedback.

This research aimed to examine the impact of argumentation-based chemistry instruction on the argumentation self-efficacy of pre-service teachers' (PSTs’) and their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of this instruction on their argumentation self-efficacy. This exploratory study involved a cohort of PSTs who actively participated in a series of argumentation-based chemistry activities facilitated by their classroom teacher over an 11-week period, with each activity spanning 1 or 2 weeks. The introduction of argumentation preceded the exploration of chemistry topics, including heat and temperature, gas laws, physical and chemical change, solubility, distinctive properties of matter, chemical reactions, and acids-bases. Data sources comprised the self-efficacy scale for argumentation, the evaluation of instruction for enhancing self-efficacy survey, and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed an increase in PSTs' self-efficacy for argumentation after 11 weeks of argumentation-based chemistry instruction. These results suggest that PSTs can significantly enhance their self-efficacy for argumentation when provided with instruction tailored to incorporate argumentation principles.

The rise of digital technologies since the second half of the 20th century has transformed every aspect of our lives and has had an ongoing effect even on one of the most conservative fields, education, including chemistry education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, chemistry teachers around the world were forced to teach remotely. This situation provided the authors with an opportunity to investigate how chemistry teachers integrate technology into their teaching, compared with how the research literature suggests that it is done. The theoretical framework used in this explorative qualitative study involves chemistry teachers' technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). In particular, the study focused on different modes of technology integration (MOTIs) in chemistry teaching, which is a part of the teachers’ TPACK. In the first stage, five expert chemistry teachers were interviewed so that they could share their extensive experience with technology during online chemistry teaching. Analysis of their interviews revealed that the teachers applied 7 MOTIs in their chemistry teaching. Of these MOTIs, 4 were reported in the chemistry teaching literature: (1) using digital tools for visualization, (2) using open digital databases, (3) using computational methods, and (4) using virtual laboratories and videos of chemical experiments. In addition, the interviews revealed three new MOTIs in chemistry teaching not previously reported: (5) supporting multi-level representations, (6) enabling outreach of chemistry research, and (7) presenting chemistry in everyday life phenomena. In the second research stage, we collected the perspectives of other chemistry teachers (N = 22) regarding the 7 MOTIs. This stage enabled us to validate the findings of the first stage on a wider population and provided data to rate the importance of the seven different MOTIs according to the teachers. We wish to stress that understanding the MOTIs will not only enrich teachers’ theoretical knowledge base regarding integrating technology into chemistry teaching—it will also contribute to chemistry teachers' preparation and professional development programs.