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ERIC Number: EJ1442017
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Dec
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: EISSN-1938-1328
Available Date: N/A
Fostering Scientific Reasoning Competencies in Undergraduate Laboratories Using "Classical" Kinetics Experiments
Journal of Chemical Education, v99 n12 p3915-3922 2022
Scientific reasoning competencies enable students to engage in scientific inquiry through a wide range of methods, for example by asking questions, formulating hypotheses, and planning, carrying out, and evaluating experiments. Laboratories are particularly suitable to foster these competencies in higher education. In order to give lab educators the opportunity to foster scientific reasoning competencies, we present a learning sequence consisting of four established experiments in the field of kinetics. These include investigating reaction rate dependencies, for example of the reaction between sodium thiosulfate solution with hydrochloric acid solution depending on concentration and temperature and of the reaction between potassium peroxodisulfate solution with potassium iodide solution depending on the choice of catalyst. As a curricular innovation, these classical kinetics experiments are implemented in a manner that students have to reason scientifically including the control of variables strategy. The experiments are sequenced using the steps of confrontation, acquisition, application, reflection, and transfer. Deploying measures of learning support, this sequence allows students to develop a multitude of scientific reasoning skills, helping them to meet an increasing number of quality criteria of scientific investigations for ensuring the validity of their experimentation. We coded the lab reports with regard to fulfilled quality criteria based on a pre- and postevaluation design (N = 46). The results confirm significant gains in students' scientific reasoning competencies.
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A