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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Visualization Without Vision – How Blind And Visually Impaired Students And Researchers Engage With Molecular Structures, Croix J. Laconsay, Henry B. Wedler, Dean J. Tantillo Jul 2020

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.


Paradigms For Creating Activities That Integrate Mathematics And Science Topics, Janet Bowers, Kathy Williams, Antoni Luque, Devon Quick, Mary Beisiegel, Jody Sorensen, Joan Kunz, Diane Smith, Lori Kayes Jan 2020

Paradigms For Creating Activities That Integrate Mathematics And Science Topics, Janet Bowers, Kathy Williams, Antoni Luque, Devon Quick, Mary Beisiegel, Jody Sorensen, Joan Kunz, Diane Smith, Lori Kayes

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Research has shown that undergraduate students benefit from seeing examples of mathematics applied to real-world situations. This article describes three different paradigms for how math and discipline partner faculty worked together to create mathematical activities that illustrate applications of the topics being studied in precalculus and calculus. All three examples are discussed within the framework of PDSA cycles to describe the process by which the teams collaborated to plan, enact, study, and refine their lessons. Findings discuss both the difficulties of creating integrated activities (differences in terms and definitions between math and science faculty, different foregrounding of math versus science …


Session A-1: Bca Method, Focusing On Mole Ratios In Stoichiometry, Carmela Jones, Deb Scarano, Anita White Mar 2017

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.


Ambiguity In Speaking Chemistry And Other Stem Content: Educational Implications, Mick D. Isaacson, Michelle Michaels Sep 2015

Ambiguity In Speaking Chemistry And Other Stem Content: Educational Implications, Mick D. Isaacson, Michelle Michaels

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Ambiguity in speech is a possible barrier to the acquisition of knowledge for students who have print disabilities (such as blindness, visual impairments, and some specific learning disabilities) and rely on auditory input for learning. Chemistry appears to have considerable potential for being spoken ambiguously and may be a barrier to accessing knowledge and to learning. Educators in chemistry may be unaware of, or have limited awareness of, potential ambiguity in speaking chemistry and may speak chemistry ambiguously to their students. One purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of potential ambiguity in speaking chemistry and other STEM fields …


Chem 109: General Chemistry I—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Eric D. Dodds Jan 2013

Chem 109: General Chemistry I—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Eric D. Dodds

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio has been developed for CHEM 109: General Chemistry I. The course is the first of a freshman level two semester sequence in General Chemistry taken by students with majors in a wide variety of technical and scientific disciplines. CHEM 109 is a high enrollment class, with class sizes for individual sections nearing 200 students. The development of this portfolio was conducted with the following objectives: 1. Clearly identify, justify, and codify the major learning objectives for this course, 2. Describe and rationalize the course structure and learning assessment methods, 3. Analyze and reflect on student achievement in the …


An Investigation Of Communication Patterns And Strategies Between International Teaching Assistants And Undergraduate Students In University-Level Science Labs, Barbara Elas Gourlay May 2008

An Investigation Of Communication Patterns And Strategies Between International Teaching Assistants And Undergraduate Students In University-Level Science Labs, Barbara Elas Gourlay

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Investigates communication between international teaching assistants and their undergraduate students in university-level chemistry labs. Qualitative and quantitative data from observations and interviews with study participants guide the analysis of laboratory interactions, which examines patterns of conversational listening. Results reveal that successful communication depends on teaching assistant listening comprehension skills and on the coordination of verbal and visual (gestural and physical resources) sources of information.


Grading The General Chemistry Laboratory: A Constructivist Approach., Barbara Stewart Jan 2001

Grading The General Chemistry Laboratory: A Constructivist Approach., Barbara Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Constructivist theories of learning posit that instructors cannot transfer their knowledge to students; students must actively construct their own understanding. The Inter-Chem-Net project uses technology and instrumentation to provide an individualized experience within the large general laboratory course, effectively establishing a constructivist methodology. A grading rubric was developed to communicate course expectations and provide an easy and reliable method of evaluating student work in the general chemistry laboratory. The grading rubric separates the learning outcomes into a checklist of skills associated with each particular grade. This checklist provides detailed feedback for individualized choices of experiments, a key component of the …