The connection between the molecular-level structure of a substance and its macroscopic properties is a fundamental concept in chemistry. Students in college-level general and organic chemistry courses were interviewed to investigate how they used structure-property relationships to predict properties such as melting and boiling points. Although…

As is true for virtually all of higher education, chemistry departments are often required to provide evidence of student learning at both course and curricular levels through evaluation and assessment. The ACS Exams Institute conducted a needs assessment survey of 1500 chemistry faculty members from across the country to investigate motivation,…

A laboratory inquiry into the thermochemical relationships in the reaction between aqueous solutions of NaHCO[subscript 3] and NaOH is described. The enthalpy change for this reaction, delta[subscript r]H, and that for neutralization of strong acid and NaOH(aq), delta[subscript n]H, are determined calorimetrically; the explanation for the…

Sustainability became a regulatory idea of national and international policies worldwide with the advent of the Agenda 21. One part of these policies includes promoting sustainability through educational reform. With the United Nations World Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), spanning the years 2005 to 2014, all school…

Poetry reading is identified as a fun way to review chemistry topics and spark student interest in the beauty and mystery of chemistry. A reading of the poem "Jerry-Built Forever" (on various aspects of hemoglobin) is used as an example; the poem is included in the article. Details of how the reading was performed and reactions of the…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NRC, 2013) positions teachers as responsible for necessary decision making about how their intended science lesson plan content supports continuous student science learning. Teachers interact with their instructional lesson plans in dynamic and constructive ways. Adapting lesson plans is complex. This process…

The study was designed to develop and factorially validate an instrument for measuring teaching practice skills of chemistry student-teachers in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Two research questions guided the study. The design of the study was instrumentation. All the chemistry student-teachers in the Department of Science Education, University…

The present article analyses the changes in practices, ideas, and attitudes proposed by a group of novice science teachers during a further education teacher training program. The research on which it is based is focused on monitoring the training program and its impact on the participating teachers. The training program has as its starting point…

Since reading and writing digitally demand partially different competencies, there is a change in some of the premises of related educational practices. This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of educational reading practices by scrutinizing how literacy events evolve in a digital classroom where each student has a personal digital device…

There is on-going international interest in the relationships between assessment instruments, students' understanding of science concepts and context-based curriculum approaches. This study extends earlier research showing that students can develop connections between contexts and concepts--called "fluid transitions"--when studying…

This paper examines teachers' experiences in responding to a new Chemistry curriculum in the province of Manitoba in Canada informed by a "tetrahedral" orientation (Mahaffy, 2005) as a pedagogical framework for the teaching of Chemistry. This tetrahedral orientation endorses macroscopic, microscopic, symbolic and human element teaching…

Chemistry self-efficacy has been defined as a student's beliefs about his or her own capability to perform a given chemistry task. These chemistry self-efficacy beliefs can be influenced by students' experiences in a course, and eventually, these beliefs could affect students' decisions to continue into STEM related-careers. In this study, we…

The purpose of the current study is to explore the impact of associating animations with concrete models on eleventh-grade students' comprehension of different visual representations in organic chemistry. The study used a post-test control group quasi-experimental design. The experimental group (N = 28) used concrete models, submicroscopic…

In recent years, the curricula reforms at the levels of preschool and primary school in Sweden have caused new demands on the teachers. In particular, numerous teachers lack the educational training in science subjects. Therefore, this study aims to investigate teachers' self-efficacy and needs in relation to science teaching. A total of 71…

We examined the use of problem solving videos (PSVs) as a substitute for general chemistry exam review sessions. We investigated student perceptions of course aspects regarding usefulness for supporting their learning of chemistry content. We also examined "how" students used the PSVs to further their learning. Students ranked the PSVs…