Spatial reasoning is defined as the ability to generate, retain, and manipulate abstract visual images. In chemistry, spatial reasoning skills are typically taught using 2-D paper-based models, 3-D handheld models, and computerized models. These models are designed to aid student learning by integrating information from the macroscopic,…

Recent research indicates that students are adopting a consumerist approach to education, while data shows that the best academic outcomes are associated with intrinsic motivation. The goal of the study was to explore student academic motivation in an undergraduate Principles of Chemistry I class. The study targeted 432 students enrolled in 9…

Copying adjacent answer sheets on the oft-used multiple-choice exams can be prevented if exam material is scrambled. The latter mode has been a requirement for all exams of this type at McGill University for 26 years. Cheating by copying has been reduced to nearly zero in this time. The experiment carried out used permissive seating and a single…

Online courses provide flexibility and convenience for students and have become very popular in recent years. With the advance of technology and change of habits for the uses of traditional communication tools among students, there is a need for educators to explore effective ways to communicate with students that fit their social-media life…

Non-formal science education means goal-oriented learning outside of school. The use of out of school learning environments (e.g. science camps) has been found to increase motivation and interest in natural sciences. In this study, the relevance of non-formal science education in science camps has been analyzed from the perspectives of children…

University of Virginia, like many other universities, has developed a chemistry outreach program (called Chemistry Learning through Experimentation, Awareness, and Demonstration; i.e., Chemistry LEAD) that visits K-5 schools and teaches inquiry-based chemistry lessons in order to engage local students with science. Chemistry LEAD is graduate…

We report a series of three experiments that introduce students at different stages of their academic preparation to the medical applications of hydrogels for controlled drug delivery and wound healing. The laboratory activity bridges the fundamental concepts of chemistry (acids and bases, equilibria, solvation, and reversible esterification) with…

This study assessed the efficacies of cooperative learning instructional approach (CLIA), learning activity package (LAP), and lecture method (LM) on enhancing students' academic retention in chemistry. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided this quasi-experimental study. The sample for the study was 194 students drawn from three…

With only minimal changes to the course structure, classroom clickers were introduced in introductory chemistry to allow students to regularly compare their perceived abilities with their actual abilities, a measurement also known as calibration. Students used the clickers to provide knowledge judgments, an indication of their confidence in…

A computational chemistry exercise for the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory is described. In this exercise, students use the molecular dynamics package Amber to generate trajectories of bulk liquid water for 4 different water models (TIP3P, OPC, SPC/E, and TIP4Pew). Students then process the trajectory to calculate structural (radial…

An inquiry-based experiment for the organic chemistry laboratory was developed to provide students with a cognitively rich research experience. Student teams were charged with optimizing the reaction conditions for the Williamson ether synthesis of 2- fluorophenetole from 2-fluorophenol, ethyl bromide, and potassium carbonate in either absolute…

Previous research on students' difficulties in learning chemical equilibrium has shown that students hold misconceptions about this topic, and this often results in unintended learning. However, recent developments in human learning from the behavioural sciences perspective indicate that students' difficulties in learning are much more than…

This study in Zambia examined 66 junior high school pre-service science teachers' familiarity with, conceptual understanding of and levels of interest in learning more about electrochemistry concepts. Data were collected using the Familiarity with Electrochemistry Questionnaire, the Conceptual Understanding of Electrochemistry Test and the…

Twenty-seven first-year nursing students, divided across six focus groups formed on the basis of their past chemistry experience, were interviewed about their chemistry experience as a component of a Health Science unit. Information related to learning and academic performance was able to be established from student conversations resulting in…

Misconceptions are the "the old, the bad, and the ugly" prior knowledge, ideas or conceptions that the learners have that hinder their further learning in science. Several types of misconceptions that undergraduate students hold about reaction coordinate diagrams (from here on we use the term "reaction coordinate diagrams" and…