The Beer-Lambert law is a fundamental relationship in chemistry that helps connect macroscopic experimental observations (i.e., the amount of light exiting a solution sample) to a symbolic model composed of system-level parameters (e.g., concentration values). Despite the wide use of the Beer-Lambert law in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum…

Student-generated drawings are known to be effective in building and revealing students' conceptions of chemistry. Some chemistry concepts, moreover, include changes and processes that cannot be merely represented by static drawings. Computer-based animations are needed to represent the dynamics. In this study, 25 chemistry student teachers, who…

This study compares students' explanations of the oxidation-reduction reaction between silver nitrate and copper metal after viewing a chemical demonstration and one of four different particulate-level computer animations. The animations differed in the way the ionic charges were depicted (shown or omitted) and the way the transferred electrons…

This study investigated the effect of visual anthropomorphic stories on students' understanding of the particulate nature of matter and their level of anthropomorphic discourse. This study employed a quasi-experimental research design with pretest and posttest control groups. Science activities supported by visual anthropomorphic stories were…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of different ways to use visualizations on high school students' electrochemistry conceptual understanding and motivation towards chemistry learning. Expanding upon a model-based learning approach (Khan, 2007), we adopted a VGEM sequence (View, Generate, Evaluate, and Modify) to create three…

This paper describes two studies comparing students' explanations of an oxidation-reduction reaction after viewing the chemical demonstration and one of two different particulate-level computer animations. In the first study, the two animations differed primarily in the complexity of the visual images. Students viewing the more simplified…

This mixed method study investigation uses eye tracking and qualitative analysis to investigate the impact of animation variation and visual feedback on the critique of submicroscopic representations of experimental phenomena. Undergraduate general chemistry students first viewed an experimental video of a precipitation or oxidation reduction…

In chemistry, novices and experts use mental models to simulate and reason about sub-microscopic processes. Animations are thus important tools for learning in chemistry to convey reaction dynamics and molecular motion. While there are many animations available and studies showing the benefit of learning from animations, there are also limitations…

This study presents a method for teaching the subject of chemical equilibrium in which students engage in self-learning mediated by the use of a new multimedia animation (SEQ-alfa©). This method is presented together with evidence supporting its advantages. At a microscopic level, the simulator shows the mutual transformation of A molecules into B…

This research investigates the use of student-generated animations in the teaching and learning of chemistry. Previous research has identified the potential for animations to contribute to student learning in science. In particular, animations have the capacity to represent the dynamic process and motions that may be inherent in some chemical…

Despite the advancements in the production and accessibility of videos and animations, a gap exists between their potential for science teaching and their actual use in the classroom. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an approach to boost chemistry and biology teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and their…

In this reply to Elon Langbeheim's response to an article recently published in this journal, authors Smith and Villarreal identify several types of general chemistry students' misconceptions concerning the concept of particle position during physical change. They focus their response on one of the misconceptions identified as such: Given a solid…

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…

In this qualitative study, we examined how a group of seventeen first semester General Chemistry students responded when they were shown contrasting molecular animations of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction between solid copper and aqueous silver nitrate for which they first viewed a video of the actual experiment. The animations contrasted…

Student performance in a flipped classroom with an animation-based content knowledge development system for the bottom third of the incoming first year college students was compared to that in a traditional lecture-based teaching method. 52% of these students withdrew from the traditionally taught General Chemistry course, compared to 22% in a…