Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics have long been identified as difficult concepts to teach in the physical chemistry curriculum. Their highly abstract nature, mathematical complexity and emergent nature underscore the necessity to better link classical thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. The objectives of this systematic…

This study adds to the growing body of research on laboratory work. The study involves four pairs of students in a university introductory calorimetry lab of which two pairs, the IR-pairs (infrared camerapairs), were given access to infrared cameras to use however they liked during their course lab work. Two other pairs, the T-pairs…

We explored chemical engineering students' approaches to learning, study-related burnout, and perceptions of peer and self-assessment in a challenging physical chemistry thermodynamics course. Cluster analysis revealed three learning profiles based on students' approaches to learning: students who scored high in both organised studying and the…

Recent progress in elucidating chemical reactions allows to explain chemistry by the potential energy of the involved chemical structures. Nevertheless, from an educational point of view, empirical results indicate that students often do not connect the core idea of energy with other chemical concepts. From a resource-oriented perspective,…

A flipped classroom is typically one where some of the instruction occurs asynchronously prior to the scheduled synchronous meeting between students and the instructor. Since 2000, they have gained substantial popularity especially in STEM fields where they have been shown to have increased exam scores and reduce the number of students who fail.…

Productive problem solving, concept construction, and sense making occur through the core process of abstraction. Although the capacity for domain-general abstraction is developed at a young age, the role of abstraction in increasingly complex and disciplinary environments, such as those encountered in undergraduate STEM education, is not well…

Recently, scholars have suggested a co-design collaboration with instructors and students to effectively implement formative assessment (FA) practices because it ensures a high-quality design that considers users' needs, values, and goals in a specific learning context. This study examines the effect of co-designed FA practices, in which…

This paper reports on how a group of students think when trying to solve a set of thermodynamic revision exercises in the context of collaborative small group conversation at the undergraduate level. The revision exercises involved exploring the relationship between enthalpy and temperature, entropy and temperature, and entropy of a gas under…

Thermodynamics and kinetics are key topics in the chemistry curriculum that pose challenges to students across a range of educational levels. These struggles arise from the complexity and mixed representations inherent to the topics. Additionally, while thermodynamics and kinetics are related, students struggle to make conceptually correct…

Fundamental quantum chemistry concepts--quantization of energy, electronic structure, and light-matter interaction--are essential for understanding chemistry and spectroscopy, an important tool for studying molecules. However, very few studies have investigated how students learn and understand these concepts or how their learning can be…

Misconceptions are the "the old, the bad, and the ugly" prior knowledge, ideas or conceptions that the learners have that hinder their further learning in science. Several types of misconceptions that undergraduate students hold about reaction coordinate diagrams (from here on we use the term "reaction coordinate diagrams" and…

Recent science education reform efforts have emphasized scientific practices in addition to scientific knowledge. Less work has been done at the tertiary level to consider students' engagement in scientific practices. In this work, we consider physical chemistry students' engagement in argumentation and construction of causal explanations.…

This case study demonstrates the ability of high school chemistry students, with varying levels of math preparation, to experience learning-gains on state and district assessments as it relates to chemical reactions, thermodynamics, and kinetics. These advances were predicated on the use of a teaching style rooted in abstract reasoning. The…

Considering the relevance of thermodynamics to the scientific discipline of chemistry and the curriculum of the Western school system, the philosophical system of Mario Bunge, particularly his ontology and epistemology, is used herein to analyze the presentation of the first law of thermodynamics in 15 school and university textbooks. The…

Jensen's scheme for the logical structure of chemistry is taken as reference to study the logical structure of physical chemistry. The scheme distinguishes three dimensions (composition and structure, energy, and time), with each dimension treated at one of the three levels (molar, molecular, and electrical). Such a structure places the outer…