Models related to the topic of chemical kinetics are critical for predicting and explaining chemical reactivity. Here we present a qualitative study of 15 general chemistry students' reasoning about a method of initial rates task. We asked students to discuss their understanding of the terms rate law and initial rate, and then analyze rate and…

Siloxane polymers and silicone materials are major components in most people's daily lives and are important in a wide variety of applications. However, despite their undeniable importance, they are often overlooked in the traditional undergraduate education, as they do not fall neatly into the traditional categories of organic or inorganic…

Curriculum ideals often get compromised as a curriculum moves through its various levels of representation. Across the different science reforms, this process of slippage is clearly present. Research shows that teacher subject matter knowledge, PCK, beliefs and context factors all influence implementation. Professional development arrangements…

Teachers need an understanding of the nature of science (NOS) to enable them to incorporate NOS into their teaching of science. The current study examines the usefulness of a strategy for challenging or changing teachers' understandings of NOS. The teachers who participated in this study were 10 initial teacher education chemistry students and six…

An Android-based application has been developed to provide color-blind and visually impaired students a multisensory perception of color change observed in a titration. The application records and converts the color information into beep sounds and vibration pulses, which are generated by the smartphone. It uses a range threshold of hue and…

The goal of this laboratory exercise was for students to understand the concept of chirality and how enantiomeric excess (ee) is experimentally determined using the analysis of ibuprofen as an example. Students determined the enantiomeric excess of the analyte by three different instrumental methods: mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance…

The elementary reaction sequence A ? I ? Products is the simplest mechanism for which the steady-state and quasi-equilibrium kinetic approximations can be applied. The exact integrated solutions for this chemical system allow inferring the conditions that must fulfill the rate constants for the different approximations to hold. A graphical…

Project-based learning (PBL) instructional methods attempt to make connections between students and their ability to solve real problems. We framed our qualitative study within sociocultural theory and used the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) model to define the positive and negative factors occurring during a PBL…

One goal of the NIH SEPA (Science Education Partnership Awards) program is to create partnerships among biomedical researchers, teachers and schools. The MSOE Center for BioMolecular Modeling (CBM) has leveraged the support from a series of SEPA awards to create a multifaceted outreach program that connects biomolecular researchers and their…

This reflection looks at pedagogic strategies employed in General Chemistry classes for English Language learners (ELLs) in a rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The approaches included the use of small group systems thinking (ST) activities and a variety of formative assessments geared toward maintaining and enhancing students' language…

An interdisciplinary course called "The Chemistry of Poisons" was created, featuring organic chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and toxicology content. This exploratory chemistry elective course was created by an instructor with a background in synthetic organic chemistry and a teaching assistant with a background in pharmacy practice.…

The importance of attitudes and other variables of the affective domain in education is acknowledged for a long time. In this study, we used an attitude questionnaire to survey 498 Portuguese 9th-grade students to determine the predictive ability of the attitudes towards the discipline of Physics-chemistry on school achievement. Possible gender…

To develop information literacy skills in chemistry and biochemistry majors at a primarily undergraduate institution, a multiyear collaboration between chemistry faculty and librarians has resulted in the establishment of a semester-long capstone project for Organic Chemistry II. Information literacy skills were instilled via a progressive…

The impetus to incorporate instruction on the efficient and responsible practice of chemical information literacy into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum has become exceptionally urgent. At Rider University, Chemical Information Instruction (CII) has accordingly evolved from face-to-face sessions into online modules to embed information…

The laboratory experiment described provides insight into the energetics of hydrogen evolution at an electrode as well as the intrinsic barrier that typically impedes reaction. In the course of the exercise, students find that Sn(s) is thermodynamically capable of combining with protons to form hydrogen, but that the direct reaction occurs at a…