{"title":"Guidance on the data availability statement requirement in CERP","authors":"James M. Nyachwaya and Scott E. Lewis","doi":"10.1039/D4RP90008A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D4RP90008A","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142276521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Continuous enhancement of mobile devices such as smartphones offer new opportunities for using these technologies in inquiry-based learning environments. Inquiry-based learning has followed deductive and inductive forms of inquiry, while the abductive form of inquiry that target the development of higher-order thinking skills such as critical thinking are less prevalent. This study investigated the use of mobile technology in abductive-inquiry based teaching and learning of chemical bonding for grade 11 physical sciences learners in two South African schools. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design that entailed first collecting quantitative data and then qualitative data to help explain or elaborate on the quantitative results. Two grade 11 Physical Sciences classes were randomly designated as the experimental and control groups in each of the two different schools. The experimental group in each school experienced activities in a laboratory using mobile technology-enhanced abductive scientific inquiry through the ‘Molecular Workbench’ web-based simulation using a mobile device, while the control group in each school experienced activities in abductive scientific inquiry in a science laboratory without using mobile learning technology. The principal findings indicated that learners within the control group displayed a significant increase in their performance to create a scientifically accurate hypothesis that is the essence of abductive inquiry, whereas for the experimental group there was no significant improvement in their hypothesis generation capacity. However, participants within the experimental group felt that their use of mobile devices created a sense of learner agency amongst themselves, developed their communication skills, made them feel responsible for their own learning, and also made learning scientific concepts more fun as opposed to what they are normally exposed to.
{"title":"The use of mobile technology in abductive inquiry-based teaching and learning of chemical bonding","authors":"Justin Dunn, Umesh Dewnarain Ramnarain","doi":"10.1039/d3rp00314k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d3rp00314k","url":null,"abstract":"Continuous enhancement of mobile devices such as smartphones offer new opportunities for using these technologies in inquiry-based learning environments. Inquiry-based learning has followed deductive and inductive forms of inquiry, while the abductive form of inquiry that target the development of higher-order thinking skills such as critical thinking are less prevalent. This study investigated the use of mobile technology in abductive-inquiry based teaching and learning of chemical bonding for grade 11 physical sciences learners in two South African schools. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design that entailed first collecting quantitative data and then qualitative data to help explain or elaborate on the quantitative results. Two grade 11 Physical Sciences classes were randomly designated as the experimental and control groups in each of the two different schools. The experimental group in each school experienced activities in a laboratory using mobile technology-enhanced abductive scientific inquiry through the ‘Molecular Workbench’ web-based simulation using a mobile device, while the control group in each school experienced activities in abductive scientific inquiry in a science laboratory without using mobile learning technology. The principal findings indicated that learners within the control group displayed a significant increase in their performance to create a scientifically accurate hypothesis that is the essence of abductive inquiry, whereas for the experimental group there was no significant improvement in their hypothesis generation capacity. However, participants within the experimental group felt that their use of mobile devices created a sense of learner agency amongst themselves, developed their communication skills, made them feel responsible for their own learning, and also made learning scientific concepts more fun as opposed to what they are normally exposed to.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics have long been identified as difficult concepts to teach in the physical chemistry curriculum. Their highly abstract nature, mathematical complexity and emergent nature underscore the necessity to better link classical thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. The objectives of this systematic review are thus to scope the solutions suggested by the literature to improve entropy teaching. ERIC and SCOPUS databases were searched for articles aiming primarily at this objective, generating N = 315 results. N = 91 articles were selected, among which N = 9 reported quantitative experimental data and underwent a meta-analysis, following PRISMA guidelines. Risk of bias was assessed by the standards criteria of What Works Clearinghouse. Results from the qualitative selection show diverse solutions to solve the entropy teaching hurdles, such as connection to everyday life, visualization, mathematics management by demonstrations, games and simulation, criticism and replacement of the disorder metaphor and curriculum assessment. The synthetic meta-analysis results show high but uncertain effect sizes. Implications for teachers and researchers are discussed.
长期以来，熵和热力学第二定律一直被认为是物理化学课程中难以讲授的概念。它们的高度抽象性、数学复杂性和突现性强调了将经典热力学与统计热力学更好地联系起来的必要性。因此，本系统综述的目的是对文献中提出的改进熵教学的解决方案进行梳理。我们在 ERIC 和 SCOPUS 数据库中搜索了主要针对这一目标的文章，共获得 315 条结果。筛选出 N = 91 篇文章，其中 N = 9 篇报告了定量实验数据，并按照 PRISMA 指南进行了荟萃分析。根据 What Works Clearinghouse 的标准对偏倚风险进行了评估。定性选择的结果显示，解决熵教学障碍的方案多种多样，如与日常生活的联系、可视化、通过演示、游戏和模拟进行数学管理、批评和替换无序隐喻以及课程评估。合成荟萃分析结果显示了较高但不确定的效应大小。讨论了对教师和研究人员的启示。
{"title":"Improving the teaching of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics: a systematic review with meta-analysis","authors":"Vincent Natalis, Bernard Leyh","doi":"10.1039/d4rp00158c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00158c","url":null,"abstract":"Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics have long been identified as difficult concepts to teach in the physical chemistry curriculum. Their highly abstract nature, mathematical complexity and emergent nature underscore the necessity to better link classical thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. The objectives of this systematic review are thus to scope the solutions suggested by the literature to improve entropy teaching. ERIC and SCOPUS databases were searched for articles aiming primarily at this objective, generating N = 315 results. N = 91 articles were selected, among which N = 9 reported quantitative experimental data and underwent a meta-analysis, following PRISMA guidelines. Risk of bias was assessed by the standards criteria of What Works Clearinghouse. Results from the qualitative selection show diverse solutions to solve the entropy teaching hurdles, such as connection to everyday life, visualization, mathematics management by demonstrations, games and simulation, criticism and replacement of the disorder metaphor and curriculum assessment. The synthetic meta-analysis results show high but uncertain effect sizes. Implications for teachers and researchers are discussed.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Students with concealable identities, those which are not always visually apparent, must navigate the difficult choice of whether to reveal their concealed identities—a choice that has been found to impact an individual's psychological well-being. Research that gives voice to those with concealable identities is highly lacking, and subsequently, work that describes the experiences of undergraduate chemists participating in engaged learning opportunities is even more limited. This study utilizes a phenomenographic approach through the theoretical lens of Undergraduate Research Science Capital (URSC), to analyze the experiences of six students as they navigate undergraduate research experiences and the effect of their visible and concealable identities. Though all six students described similar levels of URSC, their experiences, especially as they relate to their concealable identities, help to construct a multi-faceted perspective of undergraduate chemists who engage in undergraduate research. These results highlight the need for multiple approaches to equity efforts to ensure that high-impact practices such as undergraduate research are accessible to all students.
具有可隐藏身份的学生（这些身份并不总是显而易见）必须在是否暴露其隐藏身份的问题上做出艰难的选择--这种选择被认为会影响个人的心理健康。目前极少有研究能让那些隐藏身份的学生发出自己的声音，因此，描述本科化学家参与学习机会的经历的研究就更加有限了。本研究从本科生研究科学资本（Undergraduate Research Science Capital，URSC）的理论视角出发，采用现象学的方法，分析了六名学生在本科生研究经历中的体验，以及他们的可见身份和可隐藏身份的影响。尽管所有六名学生对 URSC 的描述水平相似，但他们的经历，尤其是与他们可隐藏身份相关的经历，有助于构建从事本科研究的本科化学家的多面视角。这些结果突出表明，有必要采取多种方法来促进公平，以确保所有学生都能参与到本科生研究等高影响力的实践中来。
{"title":"“I’m still here and I want them to know that”: experiences of chemists with concealable identities in undergraduate research","authors":"Evelyn A. Boyd, Kelly Best Lazar","doi":"10.1039/d4rp00094c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00094c","url":null,"abstract":"Students with concealable identities, those which are not always visually apparent, must navigate the difficult choice of whether to reveal their concealed identities—a choice that has been found to impact an individual's psychological well-being. Research that gives voice to those with concealable identities is highly lacking, and subsequently, work that describes the experiences of undergraduate chemists participating in engaged learning opportunities is even more limited. This study utilizes a phenomenographic approach through the theoretical lens of Undergraduate Research Science Capital (URSC), to analyze the experiences of six students as they navigate undergraduate research experiences and the effect of their visible and concealable identities. Though all six students described similar levels of URSC, their experiences, especially as they relate to their concealable identities, help to construct a multi-faceted perspective of undergraduate chemists who engage in undergraduate research. These results highlight the need for multiple approaches to equity efforts to ensure that high-impact practices such as undergraduate research are accessible to all students.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jessica D. Young, Betül Demirdöğen, Christopher F. Bauer, Scott E. Lewis
Peer-led team learning is a socially mediated pedagogy where trained peer leaders, students who have completed a course, return to lead students in groups within a targeted course. The effect of peer-led team learning to improve student success in chemistry has been extensively documented but it is unclear if it is just as effective at facilitating retention of knowledge across time. This paper describes two studies designed to examine this possibility, each focusing on the impact of peer-led team learning in second-semester general chemistry on students’ long-term knowledge of chemical equilibrium. The first study measured student knowledge at three time points for one year following enrollment in general chemistry. The second study measured student knowledge while enrolled in analytical chemistry. Both studies used a repeated measures design and found no demonstrable effect of pedagogy on the long-term retention of knowledge. This finding indicates that concepts students hold in first-year chemistry remain long-standing throughout their undergraduate training, conceptual understanding of equilibrium shows ample room for improvement across both pedagogies, and peer-led team learning supports knowledge retention comparable to didactic instruction.
{"title":"A lack of impact of pedagogy (peer-led team learning compared with didactic instruction) on long-term student knowledge of chemical equilibrium","authors":"Jessica D. Young, Betül Demirdöğen, Christopher F. Bauer, Scott E. Lewis","doi":"10.1039/d3rp00148b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d3rp00148b","url":null,"abstract":"Peer-led team learning is a socially mediated pedagogy where trained peer leaders, students who have completed a course, return to lead students in groups within a targeted course. The effect of peer-led team learning to improve student success in chemistry has been extensively documented but it is unclear if it is just as effective at facilitating retention of knowledge across time. This paper describes two studies designed to examine this possibility, each focusing on the impact of peer-led team learning in second-semester general chemistry on students’ long-term knowledge of chemical equilibrium. The first study measured student knowledge at three time points for one year following enrollment in general chemistry. The second study measured student knowledge while enrolled in analytical chemistry. Both studies used a repeated measures design and found no demonstrable effect of pedagogy on the long-term retention of knowledge. This finding indicates that concepts students hold in first-year chemistry remain long-standing throughout their undergraduate training, conceptual understanding of equilibrium shows ample room for improvement across both pedagogies, and peer-led team learning supports knowledge retention comparable to didactic instruction.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The ability to reason with representations is pivotal for successful learning in Organic Chemistry and is closely linked to representational competence. Given the visual nature of this discipline, this comprises competency in extracting and processing relevant visual information. With regard to the resonance concept, proficiency in identifying whether electron delocalization applies in a molecule is an essential prerequisite to using this concept in problem-solving. However, prior research shows that students struggle to recognize whether molecules profit from electron delocalization, and seldom use this concept in problem-solving. As it remains unclear how the variation of structural features affects students’ consideration of resonance, this quantitative study seeks to identify characteristics regarding students’ perception of electron delocalization. To this end, undergraduate students enrolled in an Organic Chemistry I course (N = 699) completed an online survey in which they had to decide on resonance stabilization for molecular structures with varying structural features. K-means cluster analysis was performed to explore patterns in students’ proficiency in discerning resonance stabilization and how they relate to other performance variables (e.g., time-on-task). The results suggest pattern recognition approaches with students’ attention being guided by singular structural features or structures’ visual similarity to familiar patterns (i.e., allylic carbocations), with less attention to implicit features.
利用表象进行推理的能力是成功学习有机化学的关键，与表象能力密切相关。鉴于本学科的视觉性质，这包括提取和处理相关视觉信息的能力。关于共振概念，熟练识别分子中是否存在电子逸散是在解决问题时使用这一概念的基本前提。然而，先前的研究表明，学生很难识别分子是否得益于电子脱ocalization，也很少在解决问题时使用这一概念。由于还不清楚结构特征的变化如何影响学生对共振的思考，本定量研究试图找出学生对电子脱ocalization的感知特征。为此，修读有机化学 I 课程的本科生（N = 699）完成了一项在线调查，要求他们对具有不同结构特征的分子结构的共振稳定性做出决定。我们进行了 K-means 聚类分析，以探索学生辨别共振稳定的熟练程度的模式，以及这些模式与其他成绩变量（如完成任务的时间）之间的关系。结果表明，模式识别方法是学生的注意力受单一结构特征或结构与熟悉模式（即烯丙基碳基）的视觉相似性的引导，而较少关注隐含特征。
{"title":"A question of pattern recognition: investigating the impact of structure variation on students’ proficiency in deciding about resonance stabilization","authors":"Irina Braun, Scott E. Lewis, Nicole Graulich","doi":"10.1039/d4rp00155a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00155a","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to reason with representations is pivotal for successful learning in Organic Chemistry and is closely linked to representational competence. Given the visual nature of this discipline, this comprises competency in extracting and processing relevant visual information. With regard to the resonance concept, proficiency in identifying whether electron delocalization applies in a molecule is an essential prerequisite to using this concept in problem-solving. However, prior research shows that students struggle to recognize whether molecules profit from electron delocalization, and seldom use this concept in problem-solving. As it remains unclear how the variation of structural features affects students’ consideration of resonance, this quantitative study seeks to identify characteristics regarding students’ perception of electron delocalization. To this end, undergraduate students enrolled in an Organic Chemistry I course (<em>N</em> = 699) completed an online survey in which they had to decide on resonance stabilization for molecular structures with varying structural features. <em>K</em>-means cluster analysis was performed to explore patterns in students’ proficiency in discerning resonance stabilization and how they relate to other performance variables (<em>e.g.</em>, time-on-task). The results suggest pattern recognition approaches with students’ attention being guided by singular structural features or structures’ visual similarity to familiar patterns (<em>i.e.</em>, allylic carbocations), with less attention to implicit features.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trisha M Gomez, Charmaine Luciano, Tam Nguyen, Sachel M. Villafane, Michael N Groves
A flipped classroom is typically one where some of the instruction occurs asynchronously prior to the scheduled synchronous meeting between students and the instructor. Since 2000, they have gained substantial popularity especially in STEM fields where they have been shown to have increased exam scores and reduce the number of students who fail. In the university setting, many of these studies have been performed in lower division courses. Very few studies have been conducted in senior physical chemistry courses resulting in very little data being collected on this instructional technique at this level. The purpose of this study is to assess student outcomes when flipped classroom techniques are implemented in a senior physical chemistry course. In our flipped classroom, students were expected to watch lecture videos and complete preparation exercises created by the authors prior to coming to class. Then in class, a just in time teaching model was employed prior to students working in groups to complete activities created by the authors. Seven quizzes were performed individually and in groups while three midterms and a cumulative final exam were performed individually. Grade, student opinion questionnaires and survey data collected over seven semesters from Fall 2017 to Spring 2022 will be presented. Our findings indicate that there was only one semester out of seven where the average GPA of the students was significantly higher than the control class which was taught in a traditional lecture style. According to student surveys, the students focused on the importance of the preparation questions and dismissed the importance of completing activity/homework problems given that preparation activities were assigned credit while homework was not. Given that the in-class activities/homework questions resembled the material in assessments like quizzes, midterms and final exams, while preparation questions were scaffolded formative problems meant to introduce students to the concepts to be studied during the synchronous lecture, an important link between course concepts and material on summative assessments was not made. Future changes to address this issue will be discussed as well as how COVID-19 affected students during the pandemic as well as flipped classroom instruction.
{"title":"Student Success and Experience in a Flipped, Senior Physical Chemistry Course Spanning Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Trisha M Gomez, Charmaine Luciano, Tam Nguyen, Sachel M. Villafane, Michael N Groves","doi":"10.1039/d4rp00074a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00074a","url":null,"abstract":"A flipped classroom is typically one where some of the instruction occurs asynchronously prior to the scheduled synchronous meeting between students and the instructor. Since 2000, they have gained substantial popularity especially in STEM fields where they have been shown to have increased exam scores and reduce the number of students who fail. In the university setting, many of these studies have been performed in lower division courses. Very few studies have been conducted in senior physical chemistry courses resulting in very little data being collected on this instructional technique at this level. The purpose of this study is to assess student outcomes when flipped classroom techniques are implemented in a senior physical chemistry course. In our flipped classroom, students were expected to watch lecture videos and complete preparation exercises created by the authors prior to coming to class. Then in class, a just in time teaching model was employed prior to students working in groups to complete activities created by the authors. Seven quizzes were performed individually and in groups while three midterms and a cumulative final exam were performed individually. Grade, student opinion questionnaires and survey data collected over seven semesters from Fall 2017 to Spring 2022 will be presented. Our findings indicate that there was only one semester out of seven where the average GPA of the students was significantly higher than the control class which was taught in a traditional lecture style. According to student surveys, the students focused on the importance of the preparation questions and dismissed the importance of completing activity/homework problems given that preparation activities were assigned credit while homework was not. Given that the in-class activities/homework questions resembled the material in assessments like quizzes, midterms and final exams, while preparation questions were scaffolded formative problems meant to introduce students to the concepts to be studied during the synchronous lecture, an important link between course concepts and material on summative assessments was not made. Future changes to address this issue will be discussed as well as how COVID-19 affected students during the pandemic as well as flipped classroom instruction.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kimberly Vo, Mahbub Sarkar, Paul J. White, Elizabeth Yuriev
Solving chemical problems entails content knowledge and mastery of problem-solving processes. However, students sometimes lack metacognitive processes required for problem solving in chemistry. This study investigated how first-year chemistry students engaged with the metacognitive problem-solving scaffold Goldilocks Help. Data was collected from an activity, which involved students reflectively comparing their problem-solving attempts to an expert solution. These comparative reflections (N = 373) were thematically analysed to investigate scaffold engagement in three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and behavioural. Findings showed that scaffold use, coupled with self-reflection, allowed students to identify flaws in their solutions that were either problem specific or related to their problem-solving skills. Students were able to propose improvement strategies, such as posing prompting questions to themselves and finding multiple alternatives for evaluating an answer. Students, who initially lacked structured problem-solving skills, found that scaffolding helped them to slow down metacognitive processes that would otherwise be rushed through or engaged with on a surface level. Students’ resistance to the scaffold was due to fear of making a mistake or viewing the scaffold as requiring extra time and effort. Within a semester, many students demonstrated an improvement in successful and structured problem solving but some required more practice to internalise the scaffold. Our findings also indicated that students’ reflections on problem solving became more sophisticated as a result of continued exposure to the scaffold and iterative opportunities to compare their work to expert solutions, to self-assess, and to reflect. Further research on reflective writing in chemistry education should focus on the ipsative nature of such assessments, i.e. processes focusing on students’ own progress, growth, and improvement, compared to their previous performance, while recognising the power relations operationalised in course-embedded reflections. From the teaching practice perspective, having an awareness of students’ thoughts, emotions, and actions can help instructors differentiate between levels of student capabilities, mindsets, and needs for extra support, allowing teaching efforts to be directed at promoting metacognitive and structured problem solving.
{"title":"Metacognitive problem solving: exploration of students’ perspectives through the lens of multi-dimensional engagement","authors":"Kimberly Vo, Mahbub Sarkar, Paul J. White, Elizabeth Yuriev","doi":"10.1039/d4rp00096j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00096j","url":null,"abstract":"Solving chemical problems entails content knowledge and mastery of problem-solving processes. However, students sometimes lack metacognitive processes required for problem solving in chemistry. This study investigated how first-year chemistry students engaged with the metacognitive problem-solving scaffold Goldilocks Help. Data was collected from an activity, which involved students reflectively comparing their problem-solving attempts to an expert solution. These comparative reflections (<em>N</em> = 373) were thematically analysed to investigate scaffold engagement in three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and behavioural. Findings showed that scaffold use, coupled with self-reflection, allowed students to identify flaws in their solutions that were either problem specific or related to their problem-solving skills. Students were able to propose improvement strategies, such as posing prompting questions to themselves and finding multiple alternatives for evaluating an answer. Students, who initially lacked structured problem-solving skills, found that scaffolding helped them to slow down metacognitive processes that would otherwise be rushed through or engaged with on a surface level. Students’ resistance to the scaffold was due to fear of making a mistake or viewing the scaffold as requiring extra time and effort. Within a semester, many students demonstrated an improvement in successful and structured problem solving but some required more practice to internalise the scaffold. Our findings also indicated that students’ reflections on problem solving became more sophisticated as a result of continued exposure to the scaffold and iterative opportunities to compare their work to expert solutions, to self-assess, and to reflect. Further research on reflective writing in chemistry education should focus on the ipsative nature of such assessments, <em>i.e.</em> processes focusing on students’ own progress, growth, and improvement, compared to their previous performance, while recognising the power relations operationalised in course-embedded reflections. From the teaching practice perspective, having an awareness of students’ thoughts, emotions, and actions can help instructors differentiate between levels of student capabilities, mindsets, and needs for extra support, allowing teaching efforts to be directed at promoting metacognitive and structured problem solving.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ina Zaimi, Field M. Watts, David Kranz, Nicole Graulich, Ginger V. Shultz
Solving organic chemistry reactions requires reasoning with multiple concepts and data (i.e., multivariate reasoning). However, studies have reported that organic chemistry students typically demonstrate univariate reasoning. Case comparisons, where students compare two or more tasks, have been reported to support students’ multivariate reasoning. Using a case-comparison task, we explored students’ multivariate reasoning. Our study was guided by the resources framework. One conceptual resource activates another conceptual resource and, successively, a set of conceptual resources. This successively activated set of resources is expressed in a line of reasoning. Pairing this framework with qualitative methods, we interviewed eleven second-semester organic chemistry students while they compared two substitution reaction mechanisms and chose the mechanism with the lower activation energy. We analysed what conceptual resources and lines of reasoning were activated and the variation to which students engaged in multivariate reasoning. Students activated multiple conceptual resources and, moreover, extended their activated resources into both developed and undeveloped lines of reasoning. When constructing their explanations, most students engaged in univariate reasoning. These students provided a developed line of reasoning selected from multiple activated resources, or they provided an undeveloped line of reasoning constructed from only one activated resource. Few students engaged in multivariate reasoning. These students provided both developed and undeveloped lines of reasoning from multiple activated resources. Our findings highlight the variation with which students engage in both univariate and multivariate reasoning. Therefore, we recommend that case-comparison activities scaffold engagement with multiple lines of reasoning in addition to activating and developing them.
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Amid the increasing diversity in U.S. education, including a growing population of multilingual learners, this study aims to contribute practical insights aimed at improving the accessibility of chemistry assessments by addressing the language barrier. The study’s rationale revolves around operationalization and implementation of a novel framework, Equitable Framework for Classroom Assessments (EFCA). This framework is applied specifically to general chemistry assessment items with the goal of fostering inclusivity and ensuring a more accurate evaluation of multilingual learners. This study sheds light on the challenges faced by multilingual learners when reading assessment items, recognizing the various struggles with language barriers that impede their effective demonstration of content knowledge. Multilingual learners, representing diverse linguistic backgrounds, were engaged in one-on-one retrospective interviews to identify features of assessment items that they found challenging on the topics of limiting reactant and percent yield. The results identify several challenging features, including elevated vocabulary, irrelevant background information, complex sentence structures, lack of scaffolding and unnecessary contextualization, all of which frequently hindered participants’ comprehension. The knowledge gained from this study provides instructors with valuable insights to enhance the design of exam items. By recognizing and avoiding the specific types of challenging features, instructors can contribute to a more equitable and accessible assessment experience for multilingual learners.
{"title":"Enhancing the accessibility of chemistry assessment for multilingual learners: Understanding challenging features in assessment items","authors":"Eshani N Lee, MaryKay Orgill","doi":"10.1039/d4rp00187g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00187g","url":null,"abstract":"Amid the increasing diversity in U.S. education, including a growing population of multilingual learners, this study aims to contribute practical insights aimed at improving the accessibility of chemistry assessments by addressing the language barrier. The study’s rationale revolves around operationalization and implementation of a novel framework, Equitable Framework for Classroom Assessments (EFCA). This framework is applied specifically to general chemistry assessment items with the goal of fostering inclusivity and ensuring a more accurate evaluation of multilingual learners. This study sheds light on the challenges faced by multilingual learners when reading assessment items, recognizing the various struggles with language barriers that impede their effective demonstration of content knowledge. Multilingual learners, representing diverse linguistic backgrounds, were engaged in one-on-one retrospective interviews to identify features of assessment items that they found challenging on the topics of limiting reactant and percent yield. The results identify several challenging features, including elevated vocabulary, irrelevant background information, complex sentence structures, lack of scaffolding and unnecessary contextualization, all of which frequently hindered participants’ comprehension. The knowledge gained from this study provides instructors with valuable insights to enhance the design of exam items. By recognizing and avoiding the specific types of challenging features, instructors can contribute to a more equitable and accessible assessment experience for multilingual learners.","PeriodicalId":69,"journal":{"name":"Chemistry Education Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141941726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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