Education Commons^™

“So, The World Isn’T Just Old White Guys?”: Student And Teacher Experiences In A Culturally Relevant Advanced Placement Chemistry Class, James Thomas Sox

Theses and Dissertations

This action research case study explores the impact of a culturally and socially diverse Advanced Placement Chemistry curriculum on student and teacher experiences. This study emerged due to my lack of multicultural teaching practices, which limited meaningful connections for students of diverse backgrounds. Once aware of this deficiency, I created four thematic units that blended chemistry content with aspects of culturally relevant pedagogy and social reconstructionism. Surveys, reflection logs, observations, and a focus group interview captured data related to student and teacher experiences throughout the intervention period, which suggest the culturally relevant pedagogy supported students’ understanding of content, increased student …

Principles Of Chemistry-1, Rajnish Singh

KSU Distinguished Course Repository

Principles of Chemistry, chem 1211, is a 3 credit hour course, the first in a two-semester sequence covering the fundamental principles and applications of chemistry for science majors. Course content includes electronic structure of atoms and molecules, bonding fundamentals, fundamentals of chemical reactions, and gas laws. The course is taught asynchronously and the final exam being a national exam offered by the American chemical society, (ACS), that has to be taken in person.

The Effects Of Game-Based Learning On The Motivation And Engagement Of Career Technical Education Students In The High School Chemistry Classroom, Samuel Lackey

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of practice in this dissertation in practice focuses on the lack of motivation and engagement exhibited by career technical education (CTE) students within the traditional high school chemistry classroom as a response to textbook and teacher-centered pedagogy. This qualitative action research study utilizes a game-based learning intervention that is ultimately based upon the personal interests and sociocultural discourses of the six case study participants and analyzes its impact on both the motivation and engagement of this particular sample of rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged, CTE secondary students. During the intervention, a total of five chemistry video games were played by …

Promoted Online Tutorial Use In General Chemistry: Effects On Student Performance, Timothy D. Champion, John Bannister

SoTL Commons Conference

Promoting student success in entry-level STEM courses is a continuing area of interest. While JCSU has made great strides in this area, in 2016, data began to show an increase in the DFW rates for key courses. The urban small university where these studies were conducted provides students with an online tutorial service. While the success of tutoring is well-documented, it is our perception that students do not utilize this resource as often or as effectively as they might. This project increased student utilization of online tutoring and improved participating students’ test and quiz grades.

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning On Students In High School Chemistry In Rural Maine, Brianna Degone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy that is promoted throughout education for its use of active learning and ability to connect to real-world applications. Studies have been conducted on PBL ranging from early elementary grades through graduate courses, however little research considers the effectiveness of PBL at the secondary science level. This thesis considers the use of PBL and describes the implementation of a PBL unit in a rural Maine 11th grade chemistry classroom. The thesis aims to better understand the impact PBL has on students’ content learning and additional skills acquired through the PBL learning process. Along with …

Visualization Without Vision – How Blind And Visually Impaired Students And Researchers Engage With Molecular Structures, Croix J. Laconsay, Henry B. Wedler, Dean J. Tantillo

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article examines the tools and techniques currently available that enable blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals to visualize three-dimensional objects used in learning chemistry concepts. How BVI individuals engage with and visualize molecular structure is discussed and recent tactile (or haptic) and auditory methods for visualization of various chemistry concepts are summarized. Remaining challenges for chemistry education researchers are described with the aim of highlighting the potential value of educational research in further enabling BVI students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Periodic Table Club, Makayla Gill, Kailynn Jensen

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This club is dedicated to teaching the generation of future scientists the periodic table. This is designed to be a unique take on a STEM club that uses the periodic table as a backbone for a solid foundation in chemistry.

Tools Enabling A Student Who Is Blind In A Liberal Arts Chemistry Laboratory Course, Jessica Michael, H. David Wohlers

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Chemistry laboratories ordinarily involve a number of visual observations and require qualitative and quantitative explanations of these observations. A student with blindness at Truman State University successfully completed the laboratory portion of the nonmajors liberal arts chemistry course with the assistance of a senior undergraduate chemistry education major, the guidance of a chemistry professor with blindness, and a variety of alternative laboratory methods. Volumes were measured using a notched syringe or the graduated cylinder pipet technique. Changes in color were measured by a Color Analysis Laboratory Sensor (CALS) and a Submersible Audio Light Sensor (SALS). Balance and Vernier probe measurements …

The Roundtable Of Scientific Communication: From Classroom To Course Creation, Back To Classroom And Beyond, Sean P. Hickey

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research encompasses many aspects of chemical education research including curriculum and pedagogical changes to the freshman and sophomore courses. Curriculum changes included the addition of recitations to the general chemistry and organic chemistry lectures and the creation of four new classes, CHEM 1001, 1002, 3091, and 3092. The addition of recitations was not limited to but was focused on improving DFW rates for these courses.

CHEM 3091 and 3092 are chemistry internship and undergraduate teaching assistant classes. These courses were necessary to offer outside internship opportunities and training for undergraduate teaching assistants, respectively. CHEM 1001 and 1002 are chemistry …

Enhancing And Evaluating Scientific Argumentation In The Inquiry-Oriented College Chemistry Classroom, Annabel D'Souza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The research presented in chapters 2, 3, and 4 in this dissertation uses a sociocultural and sociohistorical lens, particularly around power, authority of knowledge and identity formation, to investigate the complexity of engaging in, supporting, and evaluating high-quality argumentation within a college biochemistry inquiry-oriented classroom.

Argumentation skills are essential to college and career (National Research Council, 2010) and for a democratic citizenry. It is central to science teaching and learning (Osborne et al., 2004a) and can deepen content knowledge (Jiménez-Aleixandre et al., 2000; Jiménez-Aleixandre & Pereiro-Munhoz, 2002). When students have opportunities to make claims and support it with evidence and …

Session D-2: Don’T Overdose The Patient: A Unit Conversion Literacy Project, Gary M. Baker, David Anim-Addo, Patrick Young

Professional Learning Day

General chemistry for non-science majors is often a prerequisite course for students pursuing degree programs in allied health fields, such as nursing. A core nursing skill is medicine management, which includes correctly calculating drug dosage volumes administered by I.V. or injection. Such calculations are nothing more than general chemistry problems involving concentration units and dilution. Our data show, however, that more than 90% of students lack this skill after taking a traditional general chemistry course. This presentation will focus on documenting this curricular gap and how we, as teachers, can address it.

Session A-1: Bca Method, Focusing On Mole Ratios In Stoichiometry, Carmela Jones, Deb Scarano, Anita White

Professional Learning Day

Traditionally stoichiometry is done using dimensional analysis. Although effective, it is confusing, messy, and does not focus on mole ratios. On the other hand, the BCA method (Before-Change-After), is clear, clean, and highlights the mole ratios in a chemical reaction. Participants will collect mass data in an experiment and learn how to use a BCA table. Teachers will bring the BCA method back to their classrooms and provide an extremely useful tool for the next generation of chemistry savvy students.

Students’ Experiences With Community In An Open Access Course, Stephanie J. Blakmon, Theresa A. Cullen

Faculty Publications - Curriculum & Instruction

Online open access courses have become regular offerings of many universities. Building community and connectedness is an important part of branding and success of such offerings. Our goal was to investigate students’ experiences with community in an open access course. Therefore, in this study, we explored the sense of community of 342 participants in an open access chemistry course. We found that participants did not rate a sense of community as important to them, and did not report feeling very connected to the online course. We will discuss opportunities for building community features in such courses in the future.

Viper Faculty Development Workshops: A New Model For The Creation Of New Teaching Materials, Hilary J. Eppley

Hilary J. Eppley

IONiC VIPEr (www.ionicviper.org) is a virtual community and a “living” repository for online teaching materials in the field of inorganic chemistry. The Leadership Council of IONiC has developed a “Back to Grad School” model for creating new learning objects and for enhancing our community. We have hosted week long faculty development workshops where research experts from top graduate programs present cutting edge science and teams of faculty jointly develop materials based on these presentations. Participants are groomed for greater participation in the online community, teaching materials developed at the conference are tested, and feedback and assessment data on …

The Effects Of A Technology-Driven Science Application On Postsecondary Chemistry Student Achievement And Self-Efficacy, Darrell Byrum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to establish if distinction exists in both student achievement and self-efficacy through the application of technology-based instructional approach in the laboratory environment of undergraduate chemistry courses. The achievement of 52 college students in the southeastern region of the United States was measured through one posttest assessment. Following this assessment, students were examined through a self-efficacy scale to determine preexisting thoughts of working in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory environment, as well as peer interaction. Accordingly, three separate college chemistry I courses were used to generate data via a nonequivalent control group design. From the three …

Investigating Macroscopic, Submicroscopic, And Symbolic Connections In A College-Level General Chemistry Laboratory, Felicia Culver Thadison

Dissertations

Explanations of chemical phenomena rely on understanding the behavior of submicroscopic particles. Because this level is “invisible,” it is described using symbols such as models, diagrams and equations. For this reason, students often view chemistry as a “difficult” subject. The laboratory offers a unique opportunity for the students to experience chemistry macroscopically as well as symbolically. The purpose of this investigation was to determine how chemistry lab students explained chemical phenomenon on the macroscopic, submicroscopic, and representational/symbolic level. The participants were undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory level general chemistry lab course. Students’ background information (gender, the number of previous …

Creation Of Post Ap Chemistry Class, Julian Medrano

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The creation of a Post AP Chemistry Class to be taught at the high school level for grade 12 students is discussed. The class is to be taught under the supervision of the University of Texas Pan American professors and taught by an MS Chemistry teacher, in order to better transition students into upper level chemistry courses beyond Chemistry 1401 and 1402.

The Complexity Of Reform Efforts In Science Curriculum And Instruction: A Case Study Of The Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy Chemistry Teacher, Tang Wee Teo

IMSA History

This study explores how teacher-initiated site-based reform in a specialized STEM school is conceptualized and enacted, how and why curriculum reform ideas change in the process of enactment, what qualities of teacher agency are entailed, how these qualities are acquired, interplayed, become generative, and/or are influenced to effect different curriculum reform outcomes, and how different conditions support and further teacher agency to make a more defensible curriculum.

In a critical case study of a highly experienced and qualified science teacher, I follow a teacher who initiated efforts to reform the advanced chemistry curriculum. This teacher wanted to make the curriculum …

What Is Cheating About?, Nelson Nunez-Rodriguez

Touchstone

No abstract provided.

The Periodic Table Of The Elements, Michael A. Bailey

All Graduate Projects

The blueprint to the world of chemistry is encoded in the periodic table of the elements. This fundamental chart can be found in virtually all science classrooms in the world. The purpose of this project was to design a professional development course focusing on the periodic table of the elements. The target audience is college students working towards teaching science as a career, current teachers looking to enhance their understanding of the table, and resident teachers working towards continuing certification. In order to accomplish this purpose extensive literary research, the Washington State Academic Learning Requirements for science, published science lessons, …

Water Quality Assessment: A Hands-On Approach To Environmental Education, Tracy Lynn Royse

All Graduate Projects

A water quality assessment lab manual has been created to assist secondary educators using the HACH water quality testing kits. It consists of ten chemical tests, a geological survey and a biological assessment largely based upon Washington State University's lab format and the Walla Walla County Conservation District's water study protocol. The lab manual also contains safety guidelines, a scoring rubric and an action plan research project. The environmental approach to science education used in the lab manual meets the Essential Academic Learning Requirements adopted by the Washington State Commission on Student Learning as well as the National Science Education …

G03-1513 Understanding Fungal (Mold) Toxins (Mycotoxins), Michael P. Carlson, Steveb M. Ensley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi (molds) under certain conditions. They are not essential for fungal growth or reproduction, and are toxic to animals or humans.

This NebGuide briefly discusses mycotoxins commonly encountered in grains and feeds used in Nebraska and the mycotoxicoses they cause. Mycotoxin sources and clinical signs, lesions, diagnostic aids and treatment for each mycotoxicosis are listed.

G03-1514 Use Of Feed Contaminated With Fungal (Mold) Toxins (Mycotoxins), Michael P. Carlson, Steve M. Ensley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi (molds) under certain conditions. They are not essential for fungal growth or reproduction, and they are toxic to animals or humans. They are naturally occurring chemicals found in grains, food and feed consumed by humans and animals and cannot be completely avoided. Accordingly, we try to control the amount of such chemicals ingested by humans and animals.

The purpose of this NebGuide is to provide guidelines on use of mycotoxin-contaminated feeds.

G78-421 How To Choose An Irrigation Consultant, James R. Gilley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Presented here are some guidelines and criteria to aid in the selection process for irrigation management assistance.

The complexity of agricultural technology makes it difficult for the farmer to apply this technology on a day-by-day basis. Refinement and application of agricultural technology in the field has generally been through industrial representatives and federal and state extension programs.