Abstract
The major categories of difficulties students encounter in approaching theoretical chemistry courses were identified as difficulties related to inadequate familiarity with the mathematical formalism, language-related difficulties (particularly relevant, where students use a second language as a medium of instruction) and a diffuse perception of abstractness towards the methods and results of the discipline. The current work is more specifically concerned with the last aspect. It was hypothised that the presentation of analogies with the approaches and results of areas pertaining to the applied sciences could offer a possible pathway towards a decrease in the abstractness perception and its impact on students' attitude. Examples from structural engineering were selected as convenient for a preliminary exploration. The outcomes of pilot tests for the presentation of such features to chemistry students can be considered interesting.
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