Reports the relationship between student characteristics and results of a test of misunderstanding administered to 49 suburban high school students enrolled in a New York State Regents Chemistry Class. A multiple regression analysis of data revealed that the best predictors of performance on the posttest misunderstanding test was the pretest score…

Considers the teaching of general chemistry in light of the actual practice of the science and the way that chemical knowledge is advanced. (ZWH)

Some of the persistent misinformation offered to secondary students while studying chemistry is discussed. A few cases where plausibility, knowingly or otherwise, has been offered to students instead of the accurate explanation are described. Concepts of charge, current, the mole, amount, rates, activation energy, sign convention in voltaic cells,…

The project accounting system used by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences exchanges financial data with the campus' central accounting system and allows integration of this information with user-entered data to produce an easily read, fully obligated project accounting statement for the budget and period…

The constructivist hypothesis that the acquisition of domain-specific conceptual knowledge (declarative) requires the use of general procedural knowledge was tested. Students (n=314) were classified as reflective, transitional, or intuitive thinkers and presented with four concept-acquisition tasks. Skill in hypothetico-deductive reasoning…

The development of students' (n=80) conceptions of matter was investigated. Students' ideas about matter were examined by asking students to verbally explain what matter means and to classify items into matter and nonmatter. A major difficulty is indicated by students regarding the concept of matter. (KR)

Discusses the difficulties of attracting and maintaining skilled personnel in the environmental laboratory industry. Describes major factors contributing to the current situation and industry efforts to remedy the problems. (MCO)

Describes impact of Mount Holyoke Seminary, later Mount Holyoke College, on training of women scientists in late 1800s and early 1900s. Describes origins and development of Mount Holyoke and its emphasis on science education for women. Concludes that large number of female role models on faculty was one reason for the college's success in…

Twelve students writing essays for a photochemistry course at the Open University of the Netherlands received either audiocasette or written feedback. Time spent in recording versus writing feedback differed minimally. Recorded feedback was considerably greater in amount. Students' final grades did not differ, but recorded feedback was more…

Concerned that many students were barely surviving introductory chemistry rather than thriving, one college teacher used classroom research to assess and encourage student involvement and to understand students' difficulties with the material. Although student achievement has not risen measurably, students appreciate the techniques and participate…

Consumer chemistry projects using houseplant fertilizers are described. Background information on fertilizer elements and different brands are discussed. The procedures for the activities (reading fertilizer labels, calculating the cost of various fertilizers, and calculating the amount of nitrogen in solution) are included. (KR)

Presents activities designed to allow students with backgrounds in states of matter and measurement to have a very concrete hands-on, minds-on experience with both physical and chemical changes and to compare and contrast the end products of each type of change in a concrete way. (PR)

Test-wiseness strategies used by 11 general chemistry students as they answered a 15-item multiple choice examination were investigated using a think-aloud technique. The most common strategies were those that did not compromise the validity of the examination: error avoidance, elimination of incorrect responses, checking responses, and optimal…

Modifies a laboratory activity to ensure that consistencies exist between the laboratory objectives and the teacher's instructional goals (the constructivist learning theory). The changes are included in the article as well as a rationale for each change. (ZWH)

Gold's physical and chemical properties are without equal for use in high-tech fields such as medicine, space, architecture, and electronics. This article, with an accompanying poster on gold, contains the following sections: Lore and Legends; Matter, Metals, and Minerals; The Origins of Gold; Mining and Recovery; Cultural Crossroads; Modern…