Exploring the impact of the framing of a laboratory experiment on the nature of student argumentation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Petritis ◽  
Colleen Kelley ◽  
Vicente Talanquer
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Substitution Reaction ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Laboratory Frame ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Chemical Concepts ◽  
The Impact

Research on student argumentation in chemistry laboratories has mainly focused on evaluating the quality of students’ arguments and analyzing the structure of such arguments (i.e. claims, evidence, and rationale). Despite advances in these areas, little is known about the impact of activity framing on the nature of student argumentation in laboratory settings. In this research study, we analyzed the arguments generated by college organic chemistry students working on a substitution reaction experiment that was framed in two distinct ways: predict-verify and observe-infer. The arguments constructed by students in their post-laboratory reports under each laboratory frame were characterized by paying attention to both domain-specific and domain-general features. Our analysis revealed significant differences in the chemical concepts and ideas that students under the two conditions invoked, as well as in the level of integration, specificity, alignment, and type of reasoning observed within and across different argument components. Our findings highlight the importance of paying attention to how experiments are framed in terms of the goals, procedures, information, and tools available to students as these decisions can have a major impact on the nature of the claims students make, their use of evidence, and the approach to reasoning that they follow.

Location-thinking, value-thinking, and graphical forms: combining analytical frameworks to analyze inferences made by students when interpreting the points and trends on a reaction coordinate diagram

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Parobek ◽  
Patrick M. Chaffin ◽  
Marcy H. Towns
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Rate ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Reaction Rates ◽  
Reaction Coordinate ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Analytical Frameworks ◽  
Chemical Representations

Reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) are chemical representations widely employed to visualize the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters associated with reactions. Previous research has demonstrated a host of misconceptions students adopt when interpreting the perceived information encoded in RCDs. This qualitative research study explores how general chemistry students interpret points and trends on a RCD and how these interpretations impact their inferences regarding the rate of a chemical reaction. Sixteen students participated in semi-structured interviews in which participants were asked to interpret the points and trends along provided RCDs and to compare relative reaction rates between RCDs. Findings derived from this study demonstrate the diversity of graphical reasoning adopted by students, the impact of students’ interpretations of the x-axis of a RCD on the graphical reasoning employed, and the influence of these ideas on inferences made about reaction rate. Informed by analytical frameworks grounded in the resources framework and the actor-oriented model of transfer, implications for instruction are provided with suggestions for how RCDs may be presented to assist students in recognizing the critical information encoded in these diagrams.

The Dienone?Phenol Rearrangement of Santonin: A Comprehensive Laboratory Experiment for Advanced Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Students

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 350-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria I. Colombo ◽  
Sebasti�n A. Testero ◽  
Silvina C. Pellegrinet ◽  
Mar�a L. Bohn ◽  
Edmundo A. R�veda
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Chemistry Students

scholarly journals A Descriptive Research Study on Factors that Impact Upon the Quality of Life of Elderly Women with Comorbid Chronic Illnesses; Three Women's Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Pauline Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Chronic Illnesses ◽  
Positive Outlook ◽  
The Impact

<p>Background: Women live longer than men and are more likely to live alone; this makes dealing with chronic illnesses more of a challenge for older women. Therefore, an understanding of what living with chronic illness is like for these women is essential in ensuring health professionals can meet their health needs. Aim of Research: The aim of this research study is to explore factors that older women living with comorbid chronic illnesses identify as key to maintaining or improving their quality of life. Design: This study uses a qualitative approach, with a descriptive methodology. Face-to-face: interviews were conducted with three women over the age of 80 who had been diagnosed with more than one chronic illness. These interviews were audiotaped, and the data analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: What emerged from this analysis of older women was the need for them to create meaning in their life, which is further explicated through three main themes: (1) coping with changing health, (2) the impact of family, and (3) attitude. Attitude to life and having a positive outlook were all factors these participants expressed as being essential to maintaining their quality of life. Conclusion: The quality of life of these participants is enhanced by the ability of these women to create meaning in their life. They do this by integrating their wealth of past experience into their present, reflecting back on their lives, but still gaining enjoyment from the here and now. Understanding of how chronic illness impacts, and is managed, by these women leads health care professionals to a greater understanding of being older and living with comorbid chronic illness. The findings of this research may assist nurses working alongside older people to focus on the making of meaning,which may facilitate these people to retain a sense of autonomy and control over their life.</p>

scholarly journals Teachers’ Opinions about the Effect of Chemistry Demonstrations on Students’ Interest and Chemistry Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Luka Vinko ◽  
Seamus Delaney ◽  
Iztok Devetak
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Educational Approach ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Chemical Concepts ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Chemistry is an experimental discipline that uses experimentation as one of its most important research methods. Laboratory work and other practical work are therefore also essential in chemistry lessons. Chemistry demonstrations are used by teachers as an educational approach that can increase students’ interest in chemistry and motivate them to learn chemical concepts with understanding. However, if the students are actively involved in the chemistry demonstration, it can be just as effective as or even more effective than students’ learning through experiments. The purpose of this research is to examine teachers’ opinions about the impact of chemistry demonstrations on students’ interest and chemistry knowledge. Based on a quantitative research approach, 81 primary and secondary school teachers from different regions of Slovenia participated in this study. Participating teachers completed an online questionnaire on their perceptions of the impact of chemistry demonstrations on students’ interest and performance in chemistry classes and on the quality of students’ knowledge of chemistry. The results show that regardless of the years of teaching experience and the frequency of performing chemistry demonstrations, the participating teachers consider such demonstrations to have a positive effect on the motivation and performance of the students in chemistry and on the quality of the students’ knowledge of chemistry.

scholarly journals A Descriptive Research Study on Factors that Impact Upon the Quality of Life of Elderly Women with Comorbid Chronic Illnesses; Three Women's Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Pauline Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Chronic Illnesses ◽  
Positive Outlook ◽  
The Impact

<p>Background: Women live longer than men and are more likely to live alone; this makes dealing with chronic illnesses more of a challenge for older women. Therefore, an understanding of what living with chronic illness is like for these women is essential in ensuring health professionals can meet their health needs. Aim of Research: The aim of this research study is to explore factors that older women living with comorbid chronic illnesses identify as key to maintaining or improving their quality of life. Design: This study uses a qualitative approach, with a descriptive methodology. Face-to-face: interviews were conducted with three women over the age of 80 who had been diagnosed with more than one chronic illness. These interviews were audiotaped, and the data analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: What emerged from this analysis of older women was the need for them to create meaning in their life, which is further explicated through three main themes: (1) coping with changing health, (2) the impact of family, and (3) attitude. Attitude to life and having a positive outlook were all factors these participants expressed as being essential to maintaining their quality of life. Conclusion: The quality of life of these participants is enhanced by the ability of these women to create meaning in their life. They do this by integrating their wealth of past experience into their present, reflecting back on their lives, but still gaining enjoyment from the here and now. Understanding of how chronic illness impacts, and is managed, by these women leads health care professionals to a greater understanding of being older and living with comorbid chronic illness. The findings of this research may assist nurses working alongside older people to focus on the making of meaning,which may facilitate these people to retain a sense of autonomy and control over their life.</p>

scholarly journals Giving datasets context: a comparison study of institutional repositories that apply varying degrees of curation

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Amy Koshoffer ◽  
Amy E. Neeser ◽  
Linda Newman ◽  
Lisa R Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Comparison Study ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
The Impact

This research study compared four academic libraries’ approaches to curating the metadata of dataset submissions in their institutional repositories and classified them in one of four categories: no curation, pre-ingest curation, selective curation, and post-ingest curation. The goal is to understand the impact that curation may have on the quality of user-submitted metadata. The findings were 1) the metadata elements varied greatly between institutions, 2) repositories with more options for authors to contribute metadata did not result in more metadata contributed, 3) pre- or post-ingest curation process could have a measurable impact on the metadata but are difficult to separate from other factors, and 4) datasets submitted to a repository with pre- or post-ingest curation more often included documentation.

Analysing the impact of a discussion-oriented curriculum on first-year general chemistry students' conceptions of relative acidity

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Shah ◽  
Christian A. Rodriguez ◽  
Monica Bartoli ◽  
Gregory T. Rushton
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
General Chemistry ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Item Analysis ◽  
First Year ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Relative Acidity

Instructional strategies that support meaningful student learning of complex chemical topics are an important aspect of improving chemistry education. Adequately assessing the success of these approaches can be supported with the use of aligned instruments with established psychometrics. Here, we report the implementation and assessment of one such curriculum,Chemical Thinking, on first-year general chemistry students' conceptions of relative acidity using the recently-developed concept inventory,ACIDI. Our results reveal that, overall, students performed significantly better onACIDIfollowing instruction, with scores consistent with those previously reported for students who had completed one semester of organic chemistry. Students performed equally well on a delayed post-test administered ten weeks after final instruction, which suggests that instruction promoted a stable conceptual reprioritisation. Item analysis ofACIDIrevealed that students generally made conceptual gains on items where inductive effects were the primary determinants of conjugate base stability and relative acidity. However, students overwhelmingly struggled on items where resonance was the primary determinant. Analysis of student–student arguments in active learning settings provided evidence for how the quality of student arguments impacted their conceptions. Overall, these findings suggest that students were able to avoid several superficial misconceptions cited in the literature about relative acidity, and that this topic, traditionally taught exclusively in organic chemistry, may be introduced earlier in the sequence of curricular topics. Implications for future studies on the role of argumentational aspects of student–student conversations and facilitation strategies in promoting or hindering meaningful learning are discussed.

scholarly journals Exploring the Perception of Chemistry Students at Kulliyyah of Science in Learning Organic Chemistry

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-30
Author(s):  
Nurul Nadiah Rosly ◽  
Shafida Abd Hamid ◽  
Nor Azlina A. Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
Reaction Mechanisms ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Teaching Approaches ◽  
High Failure Rate ◽  
Organic Reaction ◽  
Reaction Type ◽  
Chemistry Students

Students perceive organic chemistry as a challenging subject for them to learn and master, which results in a high failure rate. This study investigates the perception of chemistry students of the Department of Chemistry, Kulliyyah of Science at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), on organic chemistry courses and identify the topics that the students found difficult to grasp, which may affect their grades. The correlation of students’ perception on the difficulty level in studying organic chemistry subjects (I and II) with the grades obtained for both courses, and the correlation of the type of study attitude with the grades achieved for Organic Chemistry I and II, were also investigated. From the data analysis of questionnaires distributed to 160 respondents, stereochemistry (n = 58.8 %), determination of reaction type (n = 59.4 %), construction of the reaction mechanisms (n = 73.2 %), and characterisation of organic reaction (n = 77.5 %), were the topics that the students perceived to be difficult. Perception on the difficulty in studying organic chemistry was positively associated with the achievement of excellent grades for both organic chemistry subjects (I; rs = 0.413**, p<0.01 and II; rs = 0.436**, p<0.01). Quality of study attitude shows no association with the grades obtained for organic chemistry I (rs = 0.330**, p = 1.00) but positively associated with grades of organic chemistry II subject (rs = 0.140, p<0.01). This study could serve as a reference for lecturers to search for ways to design appropriate teaching approaches for better learning experiences.

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