The authors present a model for program-wide assessment of the effectiveness of writing instruction in a chemistry laboratory course. This model, which involves collaboration between faculty from chemistry, the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program, and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, is based on several theories and…

Use of online homework as a formative assessment tool for organic chemistry coursework was examined. Student perceptions of online homework in terms of (i) its ranking relative to other course aspects, (ii) their learning of organic chemistry, and (iii) whether it improved their study habits and how students used it as a learning tool were…

Experimental courses offer a good opportunity to work with competences, promoting the incorporation of strategies oriented towards motivating students to actively involve in the learning process, promoting reflexive learning and developing generic skills. This study presents different ways of developing and evaluating some important general…

This study investigated the learning impact of self-paced learning prototype in optimizing classroom instruction towards students' learning in Chemistry. Two sections of 64 Laboratory High School students in Chemistry were used as subjects of the study. The Quasi-Experimental and Correlation Research Design was used in the study: a pre-test was…

This research paper is framed by concerns about recent UK Government policy regarding the training of mathematics and science teachers in England and discusses how two cohorts of pre-service teachers negotiated the development of a professional identity while undertaking subject-specific training. The data reported upon were garnered in two ways;…

For many middle school students, connections between their lives and concepts like chemical reactivity, microbial contamination, and experimental sampling are not obvious. They may also feel that, even if there were connections, understanding the monitoring and quality of natural resources is something for grown-ups and beyond their…

The current model of flipped classroom ensures that learning is not being restricted to the brick and mortar setting. Lessons can be conducted anywhere, anytime, as long as there is a good internet connection. Most of the flipped classroom and e-lectures are videos recording PowerPoint slides with a human voice as the audio instruction. In…

In this study, structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to an instrument assessing students' understanding of chemical change. The instrument comprised items on understanding the structure of substances, chemical changes and their interpretation. The structural relationships among particular groups of items are investigated and analyzed using…

Scientific research exploring ocean acidification has grown significantly in past decades. However, little science education research has investigated the extent to which undergraduate science students understand this topic. Of all undergraduate students, one might predict science students to be best able to understand ocean acidification. What…

The author describes the principal findings of a survey study looking at student perceptions of a new form-based approach to reflective journaling. A form-based journal assignment was developed for use in introductory lecture courses and tested over a two-year period in an Honors General Chemistry course for engineers with a total of 157…

The topic of acid-base chemistry is one of the oldest in general chemistry courses and it has been almost continuously in academic discussion. The central purpose of documenting the knowledge and beliefs of a group of ten Mexican teachers with experience in teaching acid-base chemistry in high school was to know how they design, prepare and…

The ability to evaluate options and make informed decisions about problems in relevant contexts is a core competency in science education that requires the use of both domain-general and discipline-specific knowledge and reasoning strategies. In this study we investigated the implicit assumptions and modes of reasoning applied by individuals with…

Research in academic motivation has highlighted a number of salient constructs that are predictive of positive learning strategies and academic success. Most of this research has centered on college-level social sciences or secondary school student populations. The main purpose of this study was to adapt existing measures of personal interest and…

The number of undergraduate students completing degrees in STEM disciplines has been declining over the last few decades. With a growing body of research considering what predicts persistence in STEM fields, one approach is to consider individual differences as predictors of attrition in the major. The current study utilized a variety of…

Our Introduction to Research Methods course is a first-year majors course built around the idea of helping students learn to work like chemists, write like chemists, and think like chemists. We have developed this course as a hybrid hands-on/ lecture experience built around instrumentation use and report preparation. We take the product from one…