Ohm's law and Kirchhoff's rules refer to stationary states and do not provide any indications of the always-present transition processes that connect these states and cause their respective setting. Through the use of suitable simulation programs these transition processes are accessible to classroom activities and allow a deeper and more coherent…

This study, part of an instructional development project, explores the effects of three different representations of functional algorithms in an introductory chemistry laboratory. Intact classes were randomly assigned to a flowchart, list, or standard prose representation of the procedures (algorithms). At the completion of 11 laboratory sessions,…

Discusses some of the difficulties involved with chemistry laboratory experiences and some laboratory manuals. Cites studies that indicate that part of the difficulty can be attributed to constraints relating to the short-term memory of the operational information and the assumption that students have a certain level of knowledge. (TW)