To Read Is the Challenge─Insights from 100 Days, 100 Papers Reading Challenge in Chemistry Education Research

Abstract

The lack of time available for staying up to date with the literature is a common issue for scholars and practitioners in many disciplines. A recent challenge issued on Twitter with the goal to read 100 papers in 100 days attracted the attention of several members of the chemistry education research community. In this paper, we report the outcomes of this reading challenge, including insights into the group composition, its reading preferences, and challenges participants face. We also provide an overview of the themes covered in the group’s readings obtained via natural language processing of the abstracts of the papers read by the group. Common themes in the papers were generally centered around students, learning, and chemistry, with an emphasis on research validity and the role of technology in chemistry instruction. Differences between individual participants’ reading choices and those of the group as a whole are visualized using semantic network plots.