Digital Commons Network^™

Improving Conceptual Understanding Of Gas Behavior Through The Use Of Screencasts And Simulations, Brianna L. Martinez, Ryan D. Sweeder, Jessica Vandenplas, Deborah Herrington

Peer Reviewed Articles

Engagement with particle-level simulations can help students visualize the motion and interactions of gas particles, thus helping them develop a more scientifically accurate mental model. Such engagement outside of class prior to formal instruction can help meet the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and provide instructors with a common experience upon which to build with further instruction. Yet, even with well-designed scaffolds, students may not attend to the most salient aspects of the simulation. In this case, a screencast where an instructor provides narrated use of the simulation and points students towards the important observations may provide additional benefits. …

Characterizing College Science Instruction: The Three-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol, Kinsley Bain, Lydia Bender, Paul Bergeron, Marcos D. Caballero, Justin H. Carmel, Erin M. Duffy, Diane Ebert-May, Cori L. Fata-Hartley, Deborah Herrington, James T. Laverty, Rebecca L. Matz, Paul C. Nelson, Lynmarie A. Posey, Jon R. Stoltzfus, Ryan L. Stowe, Ryan D. Sweeder, Stuart H. Tessmer, Sonia M. Underwood, Mark Urban-Lurain, Melanie M. Cooper

Peer Reviewed Articles

The importance of improving STEM education is of perennial interest, and to this end, the education community needs ways to characterize transformation efforts. Three-dimensional learning (3DL) is one such approach to transformation, in which core ideas of the discipline, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts are combined to support student development of disciplinary expertise. We have previously reported on an approach to the characterization of assessments, the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP), that can be used to identify whether assessments have the potential to engage students in 3DL. Here we present the development of a companion, the Three-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol …

Formative Assessments Using Text Messages To Develop Students’ Ability To Provide Causal Reasoning In General Chemistry, Ryan D. Sweeder, Deborah Herrington

Peer Reviewed Articles

Formative assessment is critical in providing students the opportunity to self-assess their content knowledge and providing data to inform instructional decisions. It also provides students with information about course expectations. If, as called for in numerous science instruction reform efforts, we expect students to be able to apply their chemistry knowledge to analyze data and construct coherent explanations, then not only must summative assessments include items that require this of students, but students must also be provided with frequent and ongoing opportunities to individually practice this difficult task and receive feedback. Although online homework systems can be quite effective at …

Semi-Quantitative Characterization Of Secondary Science Teachers’ Use Of Three-Dimensional Instruction, Senetta F. Bancroft, Deborah Herrington, Roxana Dumitrache

Peer Reviewed Articles

This quasi-experimental study evaluated middle- and high-school science teachers’ implementation of three-dimensional (3D) instruction as defined by the Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers participated in a long-term professional development (PD) program designed to increase their use of inquiry-based science instruction. We describe our semi-quantitative adaptation of the Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products: Science rubric version 2 (SQ-EQuIP) to facilitate the longitudinal evaluation of teacher practices with 3D instruction. SQ-EQuIP evaluations revealed that after two years, 80% of PD teachers implemented lessons where students were explicitly and coherently engaged in 3D learning, compared with 22% of comparison teachers. …

Evaluating The Extent Of A Large-Scale Transformation In Gateway Science Courses, Rebecca L. Matz, Cori L. Fata-Hartley, Lynmarie A. Posey, James T. Laverty, Sonia M. Underwood, Justin H. Carmel, Deborah Herrington, Ryan L. Stowe, Marcos D. Caballero, Diane Ebert-May, Melanie M. Cooper

Peer Reviewed Articles

We evaluate the impact of an institutional effort to transform undergraduate science courses using an approach based on course assessments. The approach is guided by A Framework for K-12 Science Education and focuses on scientific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas, together called three-dimensional learning. To evaluate the extent of change, we applied the Three-dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol to 4 years of chemistry, physics, and biology course exams. Changes in exams differed by discipline and even by course, apparently depending on an interplay between departmental culture, course organization, and perceived course ownership, demonstrating the complex nature of transformation …

Nascent O2 (A1ΔG, V = 0, 1) Rotational Distributions From The Photodissociation Of Jet‐Cooled O3 In The Hartley Band, Michelle L. Warter, Carolyn E. Gunthardt, Wei Wei, George Mcbane, Simon W. North

Peer Reviewed Articles

We report rotational distributions for the O₂ (a ¹Δ_g) fragment from photodissociation of jet‐cooled O₃ at 248, 266, and 282 nm. The rotational distributions show a population alternation that favors the even states, as previously reported for a 300 K sample by Valentini et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 86, 6745 (1987)). The alternation from the jet‐cooled precursor is much stronger than that observed by Valentini et al., and in contrast to their observations does not depend strongly on O₂ (a ¹Δ_g) vibrational state or photolysis wavelength. The …

Food And Energy For All, Bradley Stevens, Stephen Rybczynski, Deborah Herrington

Peer Reviewed Articles

When asked what plants need for photosynthesis, many students can correctly recall the reaction equation and state that plants require CO2, H2O, and light. Many students, however, do not understand that these reactants are the raw materials plants use to make sugars and instead believe that they are food for plants. Moreover, when questioned further, students often voice the idea that plants get their food from the soil (Kestler 2014). This is consistent with findings that fewer than half of current middle and high school students have a correct understanding of the process of photosynthesis (AAAS 2015). We developed this …

Photodissociation Dynamics Of Ocs Near 214 Nm Using Ion Imaging, Wei Wei, Colin J. Wallace, George Mcbane, Simon W. North

Peer Reviewed Articles

The OCS photodissociation dynamics of the dominant S(¹ D 2) channel near 214 nm have been studied using velocity map ion imaging. We report a CO vibrational branching ratio of 0.79:0.21 for v = 0:v = 1, indicating substantially higher vibrational excitation than that observed at slightly longer wavelengths. The CO rotational distribution is bimodal for both v = 0 and v = 1, although the bimodality is less pronounced than at longer wavelengths. Vector correlations, including rotational alignment, indicate that absorption to both the 2¹A′ (A) and 1¹A″ (B) states is important in the …

A Three-Dimensional He–Co Potential Energy Surface With Improved Long-Range Behavior, George C. Mcbane

Peer Reviewed Articles

A weakness of the ‘‘CBS + corr” He–CO potential energy surface (Peterson and McBane, 2005) has been rectified by constraining the potential to adopt accurate long-range behavior for He–CO distances well beyond 15a0. The resulting surface is very similar to the original in the main part of the interaction. Comparison with accurately known bound-state energies indicates that the surface is slightly improved in the region sampled by the highest lying bound states. The positions of shape and Feshbach resonances within a few cm1 of the j 1/4 1 excitation threshold are essentially unchanged. The low-energy scattering lengths changed noticeably. The …

Tool Trouble: Challenges With Using Self-Report Data To Evaluate Long-Term Chemistry Teacher Professional Development, Deborah Herrington, Ellen J. Yezierski, Senetta F. Bancroft

Peer Reviewed Articles

The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of different instruments, independently developed and traditionally used for measuring science teachers’ beliefs in short-term interventions, to longitudinally measure teachers’ changing beliefs. We compared the ability of three self-report instruments (Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument Form A [STEBI], Teaching of Science as Inquiry instrument [TSI], Inquiry Teaching Beliefs instrument [ITB]) and one observational instrument (Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol [RTOP]) to appropriately measure high school chemistry teachers’ beliefs as they engaged in a two and a half year professional development program. Collectively our findings from these four instruments, across three separate …

I Want To Be The Inquiry Guy! How Research Experiences For Teachers Change Beliefs, Attitudes, And Values About Teaching Science As Inquiry, Deborah Herrington, Senetta F. Bancroft, Molly M. Edwards, Caroline J. Schairer

Peer Reviewed Articles

This qualitative study examined how and why research experiences for teachers (RETs) influenced middle and high school science teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and values about teaching science as inquiry. Changes teachers reported after participating in the RET ranged from modifying a few lessons (belief change) to a comprehensive revision of what and how they taught to better reflect inquiry (attitude change). Some teachers who described comprehensively changing their instruction also described implementing actions meant to change science education within their respective schools, not just their own classrooms (value change). We present how and why teachers went about changes in their practices …

I Want To Be The Inquiry Guy! How Research Experiences For Teachers Change Beliefs, Attitudes, And Values About Teaching Science As Inquiry, Deborah Herrington, Senetta F. Bancroft, Molly M. Edwards, Caroline J. Schairer

Peer Reviewed Articles

This qualitative study examined how and why a research experiences for teachers (RET) influenced middle and high school science teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and values about teaching science as inquiry. Changes teachers reported after participating in the RET ranged from modifying a few lessons (belief change) to a comprehensive revision of what and how they taught to better reflect inquiry (attitude change). Some teachers who described comprehensively changing their instruction also described implementing actions meant to change science education within their respective schools, not just their own classrooms (value change). We present how and why teachers went about changes in their …

Using Interviews In Cer Projects: Options, Considerations, And Limitations, Deboarh G. Herrington, Patrick L. Daubenmire

Peer Reviewed Articles

Interviews can be a powerful chemistry education research tool. Different from an assessment score or Likert-scale survey number, interviews can provide the researcher with a way to examine and describe what we cannot see, aspects such as feelings, thoughts, or explanations of thinking or behavior. Most people have no doubt seen countless interviews on TV news and talk shows. These sessions might convey interviewing as a spontaneous, easy, and straightforward process. However, using interviews as a meaningful research tool requires considerable thought, preparation, and practice. This chapter provides a general introduction to the use of interviews as a tool within …

Crystal Structure Of A Polysamarium (Iii) Nitrate Chain Crosslinked By A Di-Cmpo Ligand, Julie A. Stoscup, Richard J. Staples, Shannon M. Biros

Peer Reviewed Articles

In the title compound poly[aqua­bis­(-nitrato-⁴O,O':O,O'')tetra­kis­(nitrato-²O,O'){₄-tetra­ethyl [(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis(aza­nedi­yl)bis­(2-oxo­ethane-2,1-di­yl)]di­phospho­nate-²O,O'}disamarium(III)], [Sm₂(NO₃)₆(C₁₄H₃₀N₂O₈P₂)(H₂O)]_n, a 12-coordinate Sm^III and a nine-coordinate Sm^III cation are alternately linked via shared bis-bidentate nitrate anions into a corrugated chain extending parallel to the a axis. The nine-coordinate Sm^III atom of this chain is also chelated by a bidentate, yet flexible, carbamoyl­methyl­phoshine oxide (CMPO) ligand and bears one water …

Measuring Learning Gains In Chemical Education: A Comparison Of Two Methods, Thomas C. Pentecost, Jack Barbera

Peer Reviewed Articles

Evaluating the effect of a pedagogical innovation is often done by looking for a significant difference in a content measure using a pre−post design. While this approach provides valuable information regarding the presence or absence of an effect, it is limited in providing details about the nature of the effect. A measure of the magnitude of the pre−post change, commonly called learning gain, could provide this additional information to chemical education researchers. In this paper, we compare two methods of measuring learning gains using data from large-scale administrations of the Chemical Concepts Inventory at four universities. The intent of this …

Basecol2012: A Collisional Database Repository And Web Service Within The Virtual Atomic And Molecular Data Centre (Vamdc), M.-L Duberne, M. H. Alexander, Y. A. Ba, N. Balakrishnan, C. Balança, C. Ceccarelli, J. Cernicharo, F. Daniel, F. Dayou, M. Doronin, F. Dumouchel, A. Faure, N. Feautrier, D. R. Flower, A. Grosjean, P. Halvick, J. Kłos, F. Lique, G. C. Mcbane, S. Marinakis, N. Moreau, R. Moszynsk, D. A. Neufeld, E. Roueff, P Schilke, A. Spielfiedel, P. C. Stancil, T. Stoecklin, J. Tennyson, B. Yang, A.-M. Vasserot, L. Wiesenfeld

Peer Reviewed Articles

The BASECOL2012 database is a repository of collisional data and a web service within the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC, http://www.vamdc.eu). It contains rate coefficients for the collisional excitation of rotational, ro-vibrational, vibrational, fine, and hyperfine levels of molecules by atoms, molecules, and electrons, as well as fine-structure excitation of some atoms that are relevant to interstellar and circumstellar astrophysical applications. Submissions of new published collisional rate coefficients sets are welcome, and they will be critically evaluated before inclusion in the database. In addition, BASECOL2012 provides spectroscopic data queried dynamically from various spectroscopic databases using the VAMDC technology. …

Product Angular Distributions In The Ultraviolet Photodissociation Of N2O, George C. Mcbane, Reinhard Schinke

Peer Reviewed Articles

The angular distribution of products from the ultraviolet photodissociation of nitrous oxide yielding O(1D) and N₂(X¹ ∑_g⁺ ) was investigated using classical trajectory calculations. The calculations modeled absorption only to the 2¹Aꞌ electronic state but used surface-hopping techniques to model nonadiabatic transitions to the ground electronic state late in the dissociation. Observed values of the anisotropy parameter β, which decrease as the product N₂ rotational quantum number j increases, could be well reproduced. The relatively low observed β values arise principally from nonaxial recoil due to the very strong bending forces …

Photodissociation Of Ozone In The Hartley Band: Product State And Angular Distributions, George C. Mcbane, Luan T. Nguyen, Reinhard Schinke

Peer Reviewed Articles

Product state properties from the photodissociation of ozone in the ultraviolet Hartley band are investigated by trajectory surface-hopping calculations. The diabatic B and R state potential energy and coupling surfaces of Schinke and McBane [J. Chem. Phys. 132, 044305 (2010)] are employed. The properties computed include rotational and vibrational distributions in both the singlet and triplet channels, the total internal energy distribution in the triplet channel, and the photodissociation anisotropy parameter β" role="presentation" style="display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px …

Programs To Compute Distribution Functions And Critical Values For Extreme Value Ratios For Outlier Detection, George Mcbane

Peer Reviewed Articles

A set of FORTRAN subprograms is presented to compute density and cumulative distribution functions and critical values for the range ratio statistics of Dixon (1951, The Annals of Mathematical Statistics) These statistics are useful for detection of outliers in small samples

Probing The Mechanisms Of Enantioselective Hydrogenation Of Simple Olefins With Chiral Rhodium Catalysts In The Presence Of Anions, Jillian M. Buriak, Jason C. Klein, Deborah Herrington, John A. Osborn

Peer Reviewed Articles

The strong influence of various anions upon the hydrogenation of 2-phenyl-1-butene, catalyzed by chiral rhodium catalysts was investigated. Both sulfonates and halides exert large increases in the enantioselectivity when [Rh{(−)-bdpp}(NBD)]ClO4 (bdpp=2,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)pentane, NBD=2,5-norbornadiene) is used as the catalyst precursor at high pressures (70 atm) of dihydrogen in nonpolar solvents. A dihydride mechanism similar to that for Wilkinson's catalyst [RhCl(PPh3)3] was shown to be operating at both high- and low-pressure conditions through a combination of catalytic studies, 31P, 1H and parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) NMR experiments. With sulfonate and in neat methanol, however, a mechanistic switch takes place from a dihydride route (dihydrogen …

Chemistry Reform Takes Root In University Settingeforms In Mathematics And Science, Thomas Pentecost

Peer Reviewed Articles

Which of the following scenarios is more attractive?

(1) You arrive for chemistry class and listen and watch an

instructor work problems about gas laws for fifty minutes.

(2) You arrive for class and you and a few other classmates anake

data about the relationship between pressure and volume and develop

the gas laws based on data.

Electron Affinity Of Chlorine Dioxide, Lucia M. Babcock, Thomas C. Pentecost, W. H. Koppenol

Peer Reviewed Articles

The flowing afterglow technique was used to determine the electron affinity of chlorine dioxide. A value of 2.37 ± 0.10 eV was found by bracketing between the electron affinities of HS° and SF₄ as a lower limit and that of NO₂ as an upper limit. This value is in excellent agreement with 2.32 eV predicted from a simple thermodynamic cycle involving the reduction potential of the C10₂/C10₂^- couple and a Gibbs hydration energy identical with that of SO₂^-.