Organic reaction mechanisms are often represented by the electron-pushing formalism and reaction coordinate diagrams. These representations pose a challenge to students because valuable information is encoded within each representation, and students must know how to reason about mechanisms using both. Hence, it is important to understand whether…

Learning to reason through organic reaction mechanisms is challenging for students because of the volume of reactions covered in introductory organic chemistry and the complexity of conceptual knowledge and reasoning skills required to develop meaningful understanding. However, understanding reaction mechanisms is valuable for students because…

Local teachers have been working with their colleagues and math coach for years on ensuring that oral discourse during their mathematics classes has them acting as a facilitator and allowing students themselves to make sense of the mathematics. Specifically, their discussions are aimed at having students reason mathematically because discourse and…

I discuss a pedagogical strategy in which we ask students to write about science. Such writing is to be done regularly and often, in class and out of class, in the format of brief "letters to a friend" and longer essays. The goal of this technique is not to teach students how to write; it is to use their writing to help them learn the science.…

A critical component of science is the role of inquiry and argument in moving scientific knowledge forward. However, while students are expected to engage in inquiry activities in science classrooms, there is not always a similar emphasis on the role of argument within the inquiry activities. Building from previous studies on the Science Writing…

Describes using the writing process as an instructional strategy in science classes to encourage critical thinking. (PR)