Holly Hiscox was concerned that many of her A-level students -- asked to evaluate three different historical interpretations for their non-examined assessment task -- still tended to hold unhelpful misconceptions about the nature of interpretations. In this article she explains how she created an introductory scheme of work to help them understand…

Organic synthesis in a modern research laboratory uses state-of-the-art equipment to provide inert atmospheres, track reaction progress, and facilitate the purification of intermediates. Such facilities are not available in a high school laboratory. In this paper, synthetic organic chemistry is taken back to basics: A four step total synthesis of…

Active learning is recognised as a crucial component of university courses in enhancing performance and retention. However, universities face numerous challenges in broadening the provision of active learning, including time constraints, and a lack of staff training and confidence to develop appropriate activities. This article outlines an…

Drawing on research into students' understanding, this article argues that the customary approach to introductory chemistry has created difficulties for students. Instead of being based on the notion of "solids, liquids and gases", introductory chemistry should be structured to develop the concept of a substance. The concept of a…

University students who enrol in foreign language (FL) programmes are motivated by various needs, but in particular the need to achieve communicative fluency, which generally requires interaction with others. This study therefore explores the notion of 'interactivity,' as conceptualised in second language learning theories and how it might be…

Year 1 of the chemistry degree at the University of Leicester has been significantly changed by the integration of a problem based learning (PBL) component into the introductory inorganic/physical chemistry module, "Chemical Principles". Small groups of 5-6 students were given a series of problems with real world scenarios and were then…

"Decoding"--converting the written symbols (or graphemes) of an alphabetical writing system into the sounds (or phonemes) they represent, using knowledge of the language's symbol/sound correspondences--has been argued to be an important but neglected skill in the teaching of second language (L2) French in English secondary schools.…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…