Showing papers in "Chemistry Education Research and Practice in 2018"

Resolving the complexity of organic chemistry students' reasoning through the lens of a mechanistic framework

Abstract: Research in organic chemistry education has revealed that students often rely on rote memorization when learning mechanisms. Not much is known about student productive resources for causal reasoning. To investigate incipient stages of student causal reasoning about single mechanistic steps of organic reactions, we developed a theoretical framework for this type of mechanistic reasoning. Inspired by mechanistic approaches from philosophy of science, primarily philosophy of organic chemistry, the framework divides reasoning about mechanisms into structural and energetic accounts as well as static and dynamic approaches to change. In qualitative interviews, undergraduate organic chemistry students were asked to think aloud about the relative activation energies of contrasting cases, i.e. two different reactants undergoing a leaving group departure step. The analysis of students’ reasoning demonstrated the applicability of the framework and expanded the framework by different levels of complexity of relations that students constructed between differences of the molecules and changes that occur in a leaving group departure. We further analyzed how students’ certainty about the relevance of their reasoning for a claim about activation energy corresponded to their static and dynamic approaches to change and how students’ success corresponded to the complexity of relations that they constructed. Our findings support the necessity for clear communication of and stronger emphasis on the fundamental basis of elementary steps in organic chemistry. Implications for teaching the structure of mechanistic reasoning in organic chemistry and for the design of mechanism tasks are discussed.

Improving general chemistry performance through a growth mindset intervention: selective effects on underrepresented minorities

Abstract: Women and minorities remain underrepresented in chemistry bachelor's degree attainment in the United States, despite efforts to improve their early chemistry achievement through supplemental academic programs and active-learning approaches. We propose an additional strategy for addressing these disparities: course-based, social-psychological interventions. For example, growth-mindset interventions are designed to support students during challenging academic transitions by encouraging them to view intelligence as a flexible characteristic that can be developed through practice, rather than a fixed ability. Previous research has shown that such interventions can improve the overall performance and persistence of college students, particularly those who belong to underrepresented groups. We report a random-assignment classroom experiment, which implemented a chemistry-specific growth-mindset intervention among first-year college students enrolled in General Chemistry 1. Performance results revealed an achievement gap between underrepresented minority and white students in the control group, but no sex-based gap. Critically, after adjusting for variation in academic preparation, the mindset intervention eliminated this racial-achievement gap. Qualitative analysis of students’ written reflections from the intervention shed light on their experiences of the mindset and control treatments, deepening our understanding of mindset effects. We integrate these results with the mindset and chemical education literatures and discuss the implications for educators seeking to support underrepresented students in their own classrooms.

This mechanistic step is “ productive ”: organic chemistry students' backward-oriented reasoning

Abstract: If an organic chemistry student explains that she represents a mechanistic step because “it's a productive part of the mechanism,” what meaning could the professor teaching the class attribute to this statement, what is actually communicated, and what does it mean for the student? The professor might think that the explanation is based on knowledge of equilibria of alternative steps. The professor might also assume that the student implies information about how one of the alternatives influences the energetics of subsequent steps or how subsequent steps influence the equilibria of the alternatives. Meanwhile, the student might literally mean that the step is represented simply because it leads to the product. Reasoning about energetic influences has much greater explanatory power than teleological reasoning taking the consequence of mechanistic steps as the reason for their prediction. In both cases, however, the same backward-oriented reasoning is applied. Information about subsequent parts in the mechanism is used to make a decision about prior parts. To qualitatively compare the reasoning patterns and the causality employed by students and expected by their professor, we used a mechanistic approach from philosophy of science that mirrors the directionality of a mechanism and its components: activities, entities, and their properties. Our analysis led to the identification of different reasoning patterns involving backward-oriented reasoning. Participants' use of properties gave additional insight into the students' reasoning and their professor's expectations, which supports the necessity for clear expectations in mechanistic reasoning in organic chemistry classrooms. We present a framework that offers a lens to clarify these expectations and discuss implications of the framework for improving student mechanistic reasoning in organic chemistry.

Evaluating student motivation in organic chemistry courses: moving from a lecture-based to a flipped approach with peer-led team learning

Abstract: Academic Motivation Scale-Chemistry (AMS-Chemistry), an instrument based on the self-determination theory, was used to evaluate students’ motivation in two organic chemistry courses, where one course was primarily lecture-based and the other implemented flipped classroom and peer-led team learning (Flip–PLTL) pedagogies. Descriptive statistics showed that students in both courses were more extrinsically motivated and their motivation moved in negative directions across the semester. Factorial multivariate analysis of covariance revealed a main effect of pedagogical approach. Students in the Flip–PLTL environment were significantly more motivated toward chemistry at the end of the semester while controlling for the motivation pre-test scores; however, there was no evidence for a sex main effect or an interaction effect between sex and pedagogical approach. Correlation results revealed variable relationships between motivation subscales and academic achievement at different time points. In general, intrinsic motivation subscales were significantly and positively correlated with student academic achievement; Amotivation was negatively correlated with academic achievement. The findings in this study showed the importance of Flip–PLTL pedagogies in improving student motivation toward chemistry.

Progressions in reasoning about structure–property relationships

Abstract: In this essay, findings from research in science and chemistry education are used to describe and discuss progression in students' structure–property reasoning through schooling. This work provides insights into the challenges that students face to master this important component of chemical thinking. The analysis reveals that student reasoning is often guided by nonnormative implicit schemas that are little affected by traditional instruction. These schemas prioritize chemical composition over molecular structure, and centralized causality over emergence in the explanation and prediction of the properties of substances. The types of components that students invoke to make sense of properties and phenomena may change with schooling, but the underlying reasoning persists. In general, learners assume that observed properties and behaviors are directly related to the types of atoms present in a system and determined by these individual atoms' inherent characteristics.

Chemistry topics posing incommensurate difficulty to students with low math aptitude scores

Abstract: The identification of students at risk for academic failure in undergraduate chemistry courses has been heavily addressed in the literature. Arguably one of the strongest and most well-supported predictors of undergraduate success in chemistry is the mathematics portion of the SAT (SAT-M), a college-entrance, standardized test administered by the College Board. While students scoring in the bottom quartile of the SAT-M (herein referred to as at-risk) perform significantly worse on first-semester chemistry assessments, little is known of the topics on which these students differentially struggle. The purpose of this study is to provide insight as to which first-semester chemistry topics present an incommensurate challenge to at-risk students. Students were identified as either at-risk or not at-risk via SAT-M scores. Students’ assessment responses were collected across four semesters of first-semester chemistry courses at a large, public university (N = 5636). At-risk students struggled consistently across all topics but disproportionately with mole concept and stoichiometry. Analyzing the trend in topics suggests that the struggles of at-risk students are not entirely attributable to topics that rely heavily on algorithms or algebraic math. Moreso, at-risk students found to have performed well on mole concept and stoichiometry went on to perform similarly as their not at-risk peers. The results support an instructional emphasis on these topics with reviewed literature offering promising, practical options to better serve at-risk students and broaden representation in the sciences.

A new approach to supplementary instruction narrows achievement and affect gaps for underrepresented minorities, first-generation students, and women

Abstract: To help students who traditionally underperform in general chemistry, we created a supplementary instruction (SI) course and called it the STEM-Dawgs Workshops. These workshops are an extension of the Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) SI. In addition to peer-facilitated problem-solving, we incorporated two components inspired by learning sciences: (1) training in research-based study skills, and (2) evidence-based interventions targeting psychological and emotional support. Here we use an explanatory mixed methods approach to measure the impact of the STEM-Dawgs Workshops, with a focus on four sub-populations that are historically underrepresented in Chemistry: underrepresented minorities, females, low-income students, and first-generation students. Specifically, we compared three groups of students in the same General Chemistry course: students in general chemistry and not the workshops (“Gen Chem students”), students in the workshops (“STEM-Dawgs”), and students who volunteered for the workshops but did not get in (“Volunteers”). We tested hypotheses with regression models and conducted a series of focus group interviews with STEM-Dawgs. Compared to the Gen Chem population, the STEM-Dawg and Volunteer populations were enriched with students in all four under-represented sub-populations. Compared to Volunteers, STEM-Dawgs had increased exam scores, sense of belonging, perception of relevance, self-efficacy, and emotional satisfaction about chemistry. URM STEM-Dawgs had lower failure rates, and exam score achievement gaps that impacted first-generation and female Gen Chem students were eliminated in the STEM-Dawg population. Finally, female STEM-Dawgs had an increased sense of belonging and higher emotional satisfaction about chemistry than women Volunteers. Focus groups suggested that successes came in part from the supportive peer-learning environment and the relationships with peer facilitators. Together, our results indicate that this supplementary instruction model can raise achievement and improve affect for students who are underrepresented in chemistry.

The effect of math SAT on women's chemistry competency beliefs

Abstract: In chemistry, lack of academic preparation and math ability have been offered as explanations as to why women seem to enroll, perform, and graduate at lower levels than men. In this paper, we explore the alternative possibility that the gender gap in chemistry instead originates from differential gender effects of academic factors on students’ motivation. Using a sample of approximately 670 students enrolled in a mid-sized university in the United States we conducted: (1) t-tests to understand incoming academic differences between freshman students by gender, (2) regression analysis to determine which academic and attitudinal factors predict success in General Chemistry 1, and (3) a mediation analysis to understand the underlying mechanisms of how academic performance affects students’ beliefs about their competency in chemistry, which in turn has an effect on chemistry achievement. We demonstrate the importance of math ability as a contributor to chemistry achievement, but further that ability differences in math are important because they affect students’ chemistry competency beliefs. Critically, this link between ability and competency beliefs is stronger for women than men. These results suggest that interventions geared towards improving women's chemistry competency beliefs could have an important influence in improving their achievement in the classroom, and in consequence reduce the gender gap in chemistry.

The relationship between chemistry self-efficacy of South African first year university students and their academic performance

Abstract: This study investigated the self-efficacy of first-year Chemistry students at a South African university. The research involved a quantitative survey of 333 students using the College Chemistry Self-Efficacy Scale (CCSS) developed by Uzuntiryaki and Capa Aydin (2009). Descriptive statistics on data for the CCSS scales suggested that students have positive beliefs in their capability to accomplish chemistry tasks. The students scored more strongly on the self-efficacy constructs of cognitive and psychomotor skills than on everyday application. There was a significant difference between students of different professional orientations for cognitive skills and everyday applications, with students enrolled for Chemical Engineering having the highest mean scores for these constructs. A multiple regression analysis was run in order to explore the relationship between chemistry self-efficacy and performance in a chemistry examination. The analysis indicated that cognitive skills significantly predicted chemistry performance, while psychomotor skills and everyday applications had no significant impact. The implications for research and instruction are discussed in terms of the relationship between chemistry self-efficacy and performance.

The characterization of cognitive processes involved in chemical kinetics using a blended processing framework

Abstract: Chemical kinetics is a highly quantitative content area that involves the use of multiple mathematical representations to model processes and is a context that is under-investigated in the literature. This qualitative study explored undergraduate student integration of chemistry and mathematics during problem solving in the context of chemical kinetics. Using semi-structured interviews, participants were asked to make their reasoning and thinking explicit as they described provided equations and as they worked though chemical kinetics problems. Here we describe the results from our study, which included thirty-six general chemistry students, five physical chemistry students, and three chemical engineering students. Analysis and findings are framed in terms of blended processing, a theory from cognitive science that characterizes human knowledge integration. Themes emerged relating to contexts that were commonly discussed when blending occurred. Variation in the depth and directionality of blending was also observed and characterized. Results provide implications for supporting student problem solving and the modeling of chemical processes.

Low-achieving students’ attitudes towards learning chemistry and chemistry teaching methods

Abstract: The aims of this study were to determine low-achieving students’ attitudes towards chemistry and how the attitudes differ within a low achieving group. The most preferred teaching methods were also defined. Empirical data (n = 2949) were collected by stratified sampling from fifteen-year-old Finnish lower-secondary school students as part of a Finnish National Board of Education assessment. The students were divided into five groups according to their achievement in the chemistry-exam. 159 of the students who had deficient exam results were defined as low-achieving (LA) students, and within that group non-native speakers, students with special needs and gender were selected as the background variables. Boys, non-native speakers and those who had special support had more positive attitudes towards chemistry within the LA group. The most preferred teaching methods in the low-achieving group were (i) visiting companies, institutes, museums and exhibitions; (ii) using the internet, videos, magazines and books for studying and (iii) small group working. According to the LA students their teachers should take more into account their wishes for teaching methods. This study suggests that more positive attitudes could lead to a better achievement when the teaching methods are preferred by most of the students. This paper proposes some ideas for both teachers and teacher training.

The effect of motivation on the choice of chemistry in secondary schools: adaptation and validation of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II to Spanish students

Abstract: The present study aims to analyse the effect of motivational variables and previous academic achievement on students’ future choice of chemistry once this subject becomes optional in the educational system. Toward this goal, the translation and adaptation of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQII) has been undertaken in our investigation to measure students’ motivation towards physics and chemistry. The sample comprised 1060 secondary school Spanish students divided into two groups: 695 students who chose the subject when it became optional for the first time and 365 who decided to leave it. Factor analysis confirmed the original structure of latent variables in our sample, providing validity for this adaptation to a new language and context. A segmentation analysis confirmed that career motivation was the best predictor of students’ retention in physics and chemistry before previous academic achievement and the rest of the motivational variables. Although significant gender differences were found in self-efficacy and self-determination, these seem not to be relevant in students’ choice.

Using a multi-tier diagnostic test to explore the nature of students’ alternative conceptions on reaction kinetics

Abstract: This study focused on grade 12 students’ understanding of reaction kinetics. A 4-tier diagnostic instrument was developed for this purpose and administered to 137 students in the main study. Findings showed that reaction kinetics is a difficult topic for these students, with a total of 25 alternative conceptions (ACs) being uncovered. Except for one AC, the other ACs uncovered have not been reported before in the literature. An interesting point emerging from this study is that nearly 70% of the ACs were obtained from questions that featured graphs. Overall, the 4-tier format for the diagnostic instrument demonstrates good utility for probing students’ understanding of reaction kinetics as well as uncovering their ACs. The confidence-related measures, which are more commonly used in the educational psychology literature, have also permitted further insights to be gained into how the students performed in the test as well as the classification of the ACs.

Flipped classroom use in chemistry education: results from a survey of postsecondary faculty members

Abstract: The aim of this study is to offer a current snapshot of flipped classroom use in postsecondary chemistry education. Data from a national survey of chemistry faculty members in the United States formed the basis of an investigation into the instructional contexts in which flipped classroom pedagogies are employed in postsecondary chemistry education. Our results reveal an association between flipped classroom use and the level at which a course is taught; in addition, our results provide support for the utility of flipped classrooms as a means for incorporation of pedagogical practices focused on active and collaborative learning.

The influence of a design-based elective STEM course on pre-service chemistry teachers’ content knowledge, STEM conceptions, and engineering views

Abstract: In this study, we sought to examine the influence of a 12 week design-based elective Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) course on pre-service chemistry teachers’ content knowledge, STEM conceptions, and engineering and engineering design views. To attain the goals determined, we utilized five STEM activities starting with a daily-life problem and an iterative engineering design process to solve the problem. A chemistry test with 11 two-tier items, and interviews focusing on STEM and engineering conceptions were administered at the beginning and at the end of the course. Moreover, a reflection paper was collected after each activity. Eight junior pre-service chemistry teachers participated in the study voluntarily. Deductive and inductive data analyses were used to investigate the influence of the course on participants’ content knowledge, STEM conceptions, and engineering and engineering design views. The results revealed that the design-based STEM course helped pre-service teachers deepen their content knowledge. Additionally, most of the participants defined integrated STEM education as an acronym (n = 6) and very few mentioned the interdisciplinary dimension of STEM education superficially at the beginning (n = 3). At the end, they mentioned interdisciplinary nature as connecting at least two dimensions of STEM, and they emphasized engaging in real-world problems, designing a product or process and inquiry-based and/or problem-based learning. Regarding engineering and engineering design views, a similar development was observed. Although their views were undeveloped or underdeveloped at the beginning, they enriched their views and mentioned defining criteria, creativity and integration to science and mathematics that are characteristics of engineering and design processes. Implications for including STEM courses in pre-service teacher education programs were provided.

‘What do you think the aims of doing a practical chemistry course are?’ A comparison of the views of students and teaching staff across three universities

Abstract: The aims of teaching laboratories is an important and ever-evolving topic of discussion amongst teaching staff at teaching institutions. It is often assumed that both teaching staff and students are implicitly aware of these aims, although this is rarely tested or measured. This assumption can lead to mismatched beliefs between students and teaching staff and, if not corrected for, could lead to negative learning gains for students and become a source of frustration for teaching staff. In order to measure and identify this gap in a manner that could be readily generalised to other institutions, a single open question – ‘What do you think the aims of doing a practical chemistry course are?’ – was distributed to students and teaching staff at two Australian universities and one UK university. Qualitative analysis of the responses revealed that students and teaching staff held relatively narrow views of teaching laboratories, particularly focusing on aims more in line with expository experiences (e.g. development of practical skills or enhances understanding of theory). Whilst some differences were noted between students at the three institutions, the large amount of similarities in their responses indicated a fairly common perception of laboratory aims. Of the three groups, academics actually held the narrowest view of teaching laboratories, typically neglecting the preparation of students for the workforce or the simple increase in laboratory experience the students could gain. This study highlights gaps between the perceptions of students and teaching staff with regards to laboratory aims alongside revealing that all three groups held relatively simplified views of teaching laboratories.

Organic Chemistry Students' Interpretations of the Surface Features of Reaction Coordinate Diagrams.

Abstract: Organic chemistry students struggle with understanding the energetics of chemical reactions. Reaction coordinate diagrams are one tool that is widely used in organic chemistry classrooms to assist students with visualizing and explaining the energy changes that take place throughout a reaction. Thirty-six students enrolled in organic chemistry II participated in a qualitative study that used semi-structured interviews to investigate the extent to which students meaningfully extract and integrate information encoded in reaction coordinate diagrams. Results show that students have difficulties explaining the meanings of surface features such as peaks, valleys, peak height, and peak width. Analysis of students’ explanations resulted in four themes that describe students’ challenges with correctly interpreting the features of reaction coordinate diagrams. Students conflated transition states and intermediates, despite being able to recite definitions. Students described the chemical species encoded at points along the x-axis of the reaction coordinate diagrams, while largely ignoring the energies of the species encoded along the y-axis. Implications for teaching organic chemistry are discussed.

Organic chemistry students’ challenges with coherence formation between reactions and reaction coordinate diagrams

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to elucidate and describe students’ thinking when making connections between substitution and elimination reactions and their corresponding reaction coordinate diagrams. Thirty-six students enrolled in organic chemistry II participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Three major themes were identified that characterize students’ difficulties with integrating the information from the reactions and the reaction coordinate diagrams: incorrect ideas about the meanings of the reaction coordinate diagrams’ features, errors when examining reaction mechanisms, and an inability to assess the relative energies of reaction species. These findings suggest that students need support for coherence formation between reactions and reaction coordinate diagrams. Implications for teaching to address these student difficulties are suggested.

Investigation of the role of writing-to-learn in promoting student understanding of light–matter interactions

Abstract: Fundamental quantum chemistry concepts—quantization of energy, electronic structure, and light–matter interaction—are essential for understanding chemistry and spectroscopy, an important tool for studying molecules. However, very few studies have investigated how students learn and understand these concepts or how their learning can be supported. Drawing on the capacity of writing to support learning of difficult concepts, we designed an intervention that targeted quantum concepts in the context of the use of spectroscopy for identifying chemical composition of the Orion Nebula. A quasi-experimental design with a pre-post assessment on a control and treatment group was used to identify the gains associated with completing the WTL activity. Results from a three-tiered assessment show that WTL students significantly improved in their explanations of the concept of spectroscopic transitions and their overall confidence in their understanding. Analysis of their writing, follow-up interviews, and feedback served to explain the changes observed on the pre-post assessment.

A comparison of online and traditional chemistry lecture and lab

Abstract: While the equivalence between online and traditional classrooms has been well researched, very little effort has been expended to do such comparisons for college level introductory chemistry. The existing literature has only one study that investigated chemistry lectures at an entire course level as opposed to particular course components such as individual topics or exams. Regarding lab courses, only one study is available and it involves moderating variables that are largely uncontrolled. In this work, we compared the student pass rates, withdrawal rates, and grade distributions between asynchronous online and traditional formats of an introductory chemistry lecture as well as its associated lab course. The study was based on the 823 university records available for the 2015–2016 academic year. Student pass and withdrawal rates between the two modes were quite similar and did not appear to be statistically significant. However, grade distributions for both the lecture and lab differed between the two learning modes, showing significant statistical associations. Online students were more likely to earn As in both lecture and lab while traditional in-person students were more likely to earn Cs or Ds. Further research should include replication of this study with a larger data set. Additionally, this study should be repeated in three to five years to determine if advances in course design, standardization and delivery platforms further reduce or eliminate differences between learning modes. Future studies should also use qualitative tools for a better understanding of why students fail or withdraw from courses.

Teaching assistants' topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge in 1H NMR spectroscopy

Abstract: Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an essential analytical tool in chemistry, and the technique is routinely included as a topic across the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. As a result of NMR's importance, classroom instruction of this topic has received considerable attention in chemistry education research. However, little is known about instructors’ knowledge for teaching this topic. In order to better understand this knowledge, we investigated topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge in 1H NMR spectroscopy among 20 chemistry teaching assistants at a large Midwestern university in the United States. A questionnaire was developed to provide an inferential measure of content knowledge and topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge in 1H NMR spectroscopy for participants with a range of teaching experience. Data from the questionnaire were analyzed qualitatively and quantized using a rubric. The quantitative data were transformed using the Rasch model and statistically analyzed. Results from these analyses indicate that pedagogical content knowledge increased with teaching experience in 1H NMR spectroscopy, suggesting that knowledge for teaching this topic is developed through practice. Additionally, the development of pedagogical content knowledge was found to depend upon content knowledge required for specific NMR sub-topics and problems. This finding suggests that the ultimate “grain-size,” or domain-specificity, of pedagogical content knowledge may extend to the problem level. Results from this study have implications for how instructors may cultivate knowledge for teaching NMR spectroscopy, as well as for how pedagogical content knowledge may be more effectively incorporated into instructor training programs.

Relating motivation and student outcomes in general organic chemistry

Abstract: A central tenet of self-regulated learning theories is that students are motivated towards learning in order to self-regulate. It is thus important to identify student motivations in order to inform efforts to improve instructional strategies that encourage self-regulation. Here we describe a study aimed at characterizing the important motivation factors for students taking general organic chemistry, and how they connect to, and correlate with student performance. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 2648 undergraduate student participants at two institutions over five semesters and four instructors. Motivation was measured using the Organic Chemistry Motivation Survey (OCMS), a modified form of Glynn et al. (2011)'s Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ-II). The results suggest that the students were highly motivated towards earning a high grade, but that this grade motivation correlated only weakly with performance. Other intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors were found to be low, suggesting that the students perceived organic chemistry to have little relevance to their interests and careers. However, student performance was strongly correlated with self-efficacy, and, to a lesser extent, self-determination. This finding implies that high-performing students tended to be self-regulated learners who are not motivated primarily by the relevance of the course content. Alternate sources of motivation that can drive self-regulation are discussed.

We don’t get any training: the impact of a professional development model on teaching practices of chemistry and biology graduate teaching assistants

Abstract: This study investigated the implementation of best teaching practices by science graduate teaching assistants [GTAs] (3 chemists and 2 biologists) in five inquiry-based, interdisciplinary chemistry-biology experiments during a six-week professional development (PD) program, Engage PD. Additionally, we examined GTAs’ experiences in implementing specific PD aspects. The PD program took place as the GTAs taught sections of biology and chemistry laboratory courses, each comprising five interdisciplinary experiments. The PD aspects included defining expected learning outcomes, subject-matter knowledge, relevance to real-world and chemistry-biology connections, and other active classroom teaching practices. Data were collected through classroom observations, reflection questionnaires, and individual interviews. Findings indicated that 57% of the PD aspects investigated were implemented in the five interdisciplinary experiments. Results also revealed GTAs’ initial areas of struggle in implementing specific PD aspects. Perceived implementation difficulties were attributed to individual perceptions and beliefs, and contextual factors. Through practice, continuous feedback, and reflections, most GTAs overcame the hurdles and refined their teaching. Findings imply the need to design training PD programs that offer mentoring and support to GTAs and future faculty in implementing teaching innovations. The teaching context and reflection prompts are helpful in identifying areas of difficulties and how to improve.

The nature of the interplay among components of pedagogical content knowledge in reaction rate and chemical equilibrium topics of novice and experienced chemistry teachers

Abstract: We examined the interactions among pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) components of novice and experienced chemistry teachers in teaching reaction rate and chemical equilibrium topics in this qualitative multiple-case design study. For this aim, three chemistry teachers who had different levels of teaching experience in chemistry teaching were selected through a process of purposeful sampling. Multiple types of data were gathered through more than two months. In order to collect and triangulate data, a card-sorting activity, a Content Representation (CoRe) tool, semi-structured interviews, observation of instruction, and field notes were utilized. Data were analyzed through three approaches: in-depth analysis of explicit PCK, the enumerative approach, and constant comparative methods. The results revealed eight characteristics of the interactions of the PCK components: (a) the novice teacher's orientations towards science, in contrast to the experienced teachers’, were more broad and non-specific, which impeded the interactions among the components, (b) the interplay of the PCK components was idiosyncratic and topic specific, (c) the novice teacher's PCK maps were fragmented while the experienced teachers’ PCK maps were integrated, (d) the experienced teachers, in contrast to the novice teacher, interacted more than two PCK components in most of their teaching fragments, (e) knowledge of learner, knowledge of curriculum and knowledge of instructional strategies were central in the interplays of all teacher maps, (f) the experienced teachers were more successful than the novice teacher in translating their knowledge into practice in terms of the integration among PCK components, (g) teacher self-efficacy appeared to play a role in their use of PCK components and constructing interactions among them, and (h) all teachers taught the same topics with similar lesson plans and the same instructional materials; however, they differed in terms of how they connect the PCK components. Implications and suggestions for teacher education and science education research are presented.

Upper-division chemistry students’ navigation and use of quantum chemical models

Abstract: Chemical processes can be fully explained only by employing quantum mechanical models. These models are abstract and require navigation of a variety of cognitively taxing representations. Published research about how students use quantum mechanical models at the upper-division level is sparse. Through a mixed-methods study involving think-aloud interviews, a novel rating task, and an existing concept inventory, our work aims to fill this gap in the literature and begin the process of characterizing learning of quantum chemistry in upper-division courses. The major findings are that upper-division students tend to conflate models and model components. Students, unlike experts, focus on surface features. Our data indicates two specific surface features: lexical features and a “complex equals better” heuristic. Finally, there is no correlation in our data between a student's facility with navigating models and their conceptual understanding of quantum chemistry as a whole. We analyze the data through the lens of a framework which enables us to cast model conflation as a problem of ontology.

“Are chemistry educational apps useful?” – a quantitative study with three in-house apps

Abstract: Three internally developed mobile apps, “3D Sym Op”, “SM2 Chem” and “ARMolVis”, available for free on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store were evaluated in seven studies. Each study was a systematic process of Pre-Test, In-lecture App Demo, App Assisted Interactive Tutorials (AAITs) and/or Independent App Usage (IAU), followed by a Survey and Post-Test. Overall, the mobile apps were effective evident by the higher Post-Test vs. Pre-Test % increase for those who used the app more frequently compared to those who used the app rarely. Apps were most effective when used in AAITs with the Blended Learning approach. This approach requires the physical presence of both teacher and student, but with some element of student free play such as using the app to complete worksheets in pairs or groups.

Career-related instruction promoting students’ career awareness and interest towards science learning

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate how career-related instruction implemented in secondary school chemistry education concerning water issues influences students’ career awareness and their interest towards science learning. This case study is part of a larger design-based research study for the EU-MultiCO project, which focuses on promoting students’ scientific career awareness and attractiveness by introducing them to career-based scenarios at the beginning of the instruction unit. The participants in this study were three eighth-grade classes with 46 students in total, and 2 science teachers. Data consisted of observations throughout the intervention and a questionnaire which the students took afterwards. Descriptive statistics taken from the questionnaire were used together with the content analysis of open questions and observation notes. The results reveal that the students acquired knowledge about science, science-related careers and working life skills and that they enjoyed studying chemistry and engaged in learning during the intervention. The students recognized the need for professionals and their responsibilities as well as the importance of water-related issues as global and local problems, but these issues were not personally important or valuable to students. The type of career-related instruction discussed in this paper can give guidelines for how to develop teaching to promote students’ science career awareness, trigger students’ interest and engage them in science learning.

Developing communication confidence and professional identity in chemistry through international online collaborative learning

Abstract: The use of online collaborative assignments (OCAs) between two flipped organic chemistry classrooms, one in Canada and the other in the United States, was examined for impact on learners. The intervention was designed to support content mastery, aid in increasing students’ communication skills through chemistry drawing and verbalization, facilitate emergence of professional identity, and promote development of appreciation for chemistry as an international language. A mixed-methods approach consisting of interviews, student written reflections, and questionnaires was used to evaluate the impact of the OCAs. Students described their experience of the OCAs in terms of: chemistry communication confidence; engaged learning; chemistry learning; relationships; and professional identity.

Development of pre-service chemistry teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge

Abstract: In this study, a mixed-method design was employed to investigate pre-service chemistry teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) development. For effective technology integration in instruction, knowledge about technology is not enough; teachers should have different knowledge types which are content, pedagogical, and technological. The 17 pre-service chemistry teachers who enrolled in the Instructional Technology and Material Development course participated in the study for one semester. The purpose of this course was to learn how to integrate simulations, animations, instructional games, data-logging, virtual labs and virtual field trips into chemistry instruction considering factors such as chemistry subjects and students’ possible alternative conceptions or their previous chemistry knowledge. A survey and interviews were used to gather data on the pre-service chemistry teachers’ TPACK framework both before and after the semester. A mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance was conducted to examine the differences in the pre-service teachers’ TPACK at two time periods considering also the gender factor. For the qualitative data, deductive analysis based on existing codes and categories was applied. The quantitative and qualitative findings of this study revealed that the pre-service chemistry teachers’ TPACK improved partially on some components. In addition, based on these findings, gender was not found to be a significant variable in technology integration. For further development in the TPACK framework, more context related technology applications in a learning and teaching environment are needed.