Reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) are an important tool used to visualize the energetics of a chemical reaction. RCDs provide information about the kinetics of the reaction, the mechanism by which the reaction occurs, and the relative thermodynamic stability of the molecules in a reaction. Previous research studies have characterized student…

Learning thermodynamics requires understanding abstract topics such as entropy and spontaneity. Students tend to rely on metaphors and everyday meanings to reason about these topics. This study investigates how students explain dissolution and precipitation using the concepts of entropy and spontaneity. Students from general chemistry, physical…

Multiple chemistry education research studies at the secondary level have characterized students' difficulties regarding a conceptual understanding of the quantum model of the atom. This research explores undergraduate students' interpretations of multiple representations of the atom. Semistructured interviews were conducted with first-year…

The Enthalpy and Entropy in Dissolution and Precipitation Inventory (E2DPI) has been developed to measure student understanding of the dissolution of ionic solutes, aqueous precipitation reactions, and the enthalpy and entropy changes that accompany these processes. The E[subscript 2]DPI was designed using a mixed-methods protocol, such that the…

In response to the Coronavirus-19 pandemic, higher education institutions quickly moved to emergency remote learning, and most human subjects research came to an immediate halt. Chemistry education researchers who wanted to continue data collection were confronted by many challenges, including research designs and data collection methods that had…

The ACS Guidelines for bachelor's degrees in chemistry call for the curriculum to include polymer chemistry principles and the synthesis of different classes of macromolecules. Organic chemistry can provide an important introduction to polymer chemistry principles, and photochemically induced radical polymerization is one method for generating…

Students' understandings of foundational concepts such as noncovalent interactions, pH and pK[subscript a] are crucial for success in undergraduate biochemistry courses. We developed a guided-inquiry activity to aid students in making connections between noncovalent interactions and pH/pK[subscript a]. Students explore these concepts by examining…

The Reaction Coordinate Diagram Inventory (RCDI) has been developed to measure student thinking and confidence with reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) and their correspondence to reaction mechanisms. The RCDI was designed using a sequential mixed-methods protocol, such that the questions and distractors in the instrument were generated based on…

This article describes the development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory (QuPRI) as a measure of student understanding of the electron structure of the atom. The QuPRI was created using a mixed-method sequential design such that the items and distractors were generated on the basis of the analysis of semi-structured…

Thirty-six students enrolled in Organic Chemistry II participated in individual, semistructured, think-aloud interviews about the factors that contribute to the stability and reactivity of organic species in the context of unimolecular and bimolecular nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions. The students were provided with the…

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…

This study reports the development of a 19-item Flame Test Concept Inventory, an assessment tool to measure students' understanding of atomic emission. Fifty-two students enrolled in secondary and postsecondary chemistry courses were interviewed about atomic emission and explicitly asked to explain flame test demonstrations and energy level…

Although stereochemistry is an important topic in second-year undergraduate organic chemistry, there are limited options for laboratory activities that allow direct visualization of macroscopic chiral phenomena. A novel, guided-inquiry experiment was developed that allows students to explore chirality in the context of cholesteric liquid crystals.…

Chemistry students encounter a variety of terms, definitions, and classification schemes that many instructors expect students to memorize and be able to use. This research investigated students' descriptions of ionic and covalent bonding beyond definitions in order to explore students' knowledge about chemical bonding. Using Johnstone's Multiple…

A variety of fruits and vegetables, including raspberries, blueberries, Concord grapes, blackberries, strawberries, peaches, eggplant, red cabbage, and red onions, contain flavonoid compounds known as anthocyanins that are responsible for the blue-red color and the astringent taste associated with such foods. In addition, anthocyanins exhibit a…