In this quantitative study, a shortened version of the Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI) created by Bauer (2008) was used to identify the chemistry attitudes of two populations of general chemistry students at two universities. The ASCIv2 contained just two factors from the original instrument. These factors measured…

The typical experiment to measure the oxygen content in the atmosphere uses the rusting of steel wool inside a closed volume of air. Two key aspects of this experiment that make possible a successful measurement of the content of oxygen in the air are the use of a closed atmosphere and the use of a chemical reaction that involves the oxidation of…

Starting in the mid-twentieth century, Tolyatti became a city that developed on the basis of the implementation of three projects: the hydroelectric power station, chemical plants, and the motor vehicle plant (AVTOVAZ). During that period of time, young people came to the Stavropol and Tolyatti area from various regions of the country to take part…

Background and purpose: This study investigated Indonesian and Japanese senior high-school students' understanding of electrochemistry concepts. Sample: The questionnaire was administered to 244 Indonesian and 189 Japanese public senior high-school students. Design and methods: An 18-item multiple-choice questionnaire relating to five conceptual…

Chemical education occurs in settings other than just the chemistry classroom. High school biology courses are frequently where students are introduced to organic molecules and their importance to cellular chemistry. However, structural representations are often intimidating because students have not been introduced to the language. As part of a…

Understanding bonding is fundamental to success in chemistry. A number of alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding have been reported in the literature. Research suggests that many alternative conceptions held by chemistry students result from previous teaching; if teachers are explicit in the use of representations and explain their…

In a collaborative effort between the our university's department of chemistry and the academic resource center, we designed a model for general chemistry recitation based on a problem manipulation method in which students actively assess the skills and knowledge used to answer a chemical problem and then manipulate the problem to create a new…

A substantial number of upper-level science students and practicing physical science teachers demonstrate confusion about thermal equilibrium, heat transfer, heat capacity, and specific heat capacity. The traditional method of instruction, which involves learning the related definitions and equations, using equations to solve heat transfer…

In an attempt to address some student misconceptions in electrochemistry, this guided-inquiry laboratory was devised to give students an opportunity to use a manipulative that simulates the particulate-level activity within an electrochemical cell, in addition to using an actual electrochemical cell. Students are led through a review of expected…

We explored the experiences of first year chemistry students of an Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL) approach to learning spectroscopy. An investigation of how students' perceived confidences changed as a result of their experience of using EBL in the spectroscopy course was carried out. Changes in the students' perceived confidence, both in their…

Upon graduation, chemistry majors often find themselves inadequately prepared for the "real world" that awaits them when they join the workplace. Some employers find chemistry graduates lacking written- and oral-communication skills, critical-thinking skills, group-work skills, as well as the ability to efficiently analyze data and retrieve…

"A Tale of Four Electrons" is a creative writing assignment used with 10th-grade Honors Chemistry students. The project helps students consolidate their learning about bonding--an important unifying theme in chemistry--and answers questions such as (1) How are ionic, metallic, and covalent bonds related? (2) How do variations in electron…

This paper reviews Ghana's performance in the TIMSS 2011 survey in comparison with other African and some high performing countries which participated in the TIMSS assessment. Students' achievement in the science content areas assessed were summarized and teacher preparation constructs of teachers of the students who took part in the assessment…

This article describes the development and implementation of an open-access organic chemistry question bank for online tutorials and assessments at University College Cork and Dublin Institute of Technology. SOCOT (structure-based organic chemistry online tutorials) may be used to supplement traditional small-group tutorials, thereby allowing…

The document is from a presentation at the Texas Region VII 2014 Curriculum Conference. The study examined the effects of a three-tiered high school program designed to increase student achievement and Texas end-of-course (EOC) TAKS and STAAR chemistry scores. The student sample (n = 625) consisted 75% high school sophomores and 25% high school…