Chemistry Course Research Articles

Teaching hydrogen bridges: it is not FON anymore!

Abstract Teaching hydrogen bridges (H-bridges) in introductory chemistry courses is either oversimplified or dogmatically taught; the heuristic that ‘only fluorine, oxygen and nitrogen (FON) form H-bridges’ is commonly used, for example. This rule limits choices, does not match reality, and does not clarify the difference between H-bridge donors (HBD) and H-bridge acceptors (HBA) nor intermolecular versus intramolecular cases. Hydrogen fluoride is a significant HBD but a poor HBA. Oxygen is not always an HBD or HBA. Ammonia is a significant HBA but a poor HBD. There are many examples of H-bridges that do not contain these three elements. All examples of H-bridges should be shown in a way to provide symbolic and molecular structures. Is it necessary to ‘explain’ H-bridges in introductory classes? We conclude not, but it might be necessary to increase the total amount of time to present the material so that students do not rely on superficial rules.

Exploring alternative assessments during COVID: Instructor experiences using oral exams

Research into conventional summative assessment methods, such as written exams, has been extensively documented in the literature. However, as academia evolves in response to changing dynamics, there is a growing demand for more robust summative assessment approaches. Oral exams have emerged as a noteworthy form of summative assessment with intrinsic formative qualities, enabling instructors to delve deeply into students’ comprehension within a meaningful learning framework. Considering the constraints imposed by the traditional written examination format during the COVID pandemic, two educators implemented oral assessments in their chemistry courses, one in general chemistry and the other in organic chemistry. This article presents a comprehensive account of their approach, course structure, rubrics, documentation procedures, and the challenges associated with implementing oral exams. Furthermore, the authors offer insights derived from perceived course outcomes, experiences, collaborative efforts, and reflections from this transformative process. Through candid exploration, this article delves into both the potential advantages and the hurdles associated with the adoption of oral exams in chemistry education. It serves as a valuable resource for educators seeking innovative assessment strategies.

Tweaking Instructional Practices Was Not the Answer: How Increasing the Interactivity of a Model-Centered Organic Chemistry Course Affected Student Outcomes

Tweaking Instructional Practices Was Not the Answer: How Increasing the Interactivity of a Model-Centered Organic Chemistry Course Affected Student Outcomes

Work Experience in Studying the Topic “Chemical Properties of Salt” in a Secondary School Chemistry Course

The school chemistry course contributes to formation of worldview ideas, thinking skills and creative abilities of students. To determine the content of the topic “Chemical properties of salts” in a chemistry course in high school. Research materials and methods: teacher shows demonstration experiments explaining the properties of salts, and invites students to write molecular, complete and abbreviated ionic equations for salt reactions. The solubility chart helps students to understand the course of substitution reactions that result in the formation of soluble salts. Finding out the influence of metals on salts, students conclude that metals which do not react with water displace metals on the right side of the order from solutions of their salts.

The role of language on assessment outcomes: an analysis of calculation and explanation questions in science classrooms

This study investigates the impact of the language of instruction on assessment outcomes by comparing students’ test performance in English (EMI) and Japanese Medium Instruction (JMI) courses. Data were collected from a university in Japan offering parallel Chemistry courses in Japanese and English as part of the same undergraduate curriculum. A mixed-methods approach was employed, with the quantitative analysis of pre-test and post-test scores of 28 EMI and 29 JMI students and the qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with eight EMI and six JMI students. The results revealed that EMI students underperformed significantly on explanation-oriented questions compared to JMI students, while there was no difference between the groups for calculation-oriented questions. When controlling for students’ pre-test scores, the group differences remained significant for explanation-oriented questions but not for calculation-oriented questions. Findings also demonstrated a significant interaction between question type and group, indicating a substantial impact of the language of instruction on the test performance of EMI students compared to JMI students. The qualitative data highlighted the unique language-related challenges EMI students encountered when learning Chemistry. These findings highlight the need for diverse and fair assessment methods in EMI programs to ensure language proficiency does not disproportionately influence students’ test performance.

Student Self-Awareness: How well do Students Recall Recent Performance in a Course

Student Self-Awareness: How well do Students Recall Recent Performance in a Course

EMMAs: Implementation and Assessment of a Suite of Cross-Disciplinary, Case-Based High School Activities to Explore Three-Dimensional Molecular Structure, Noncovalent Interactions, and Molecular Dynamics.

Students frequently develop misconceptions about noncovalent interactions that make it challenging for them to appropriately interpret aspects of molecular structure and interactions critical to myriad applications. We hypothesized that computational molecular modeling and visualization could provide a valuable approach to help address these core misconceptions when students are first exposed to these concepts in secondary school chemistry courses. Here, we present a series of activities exploring biomolecular drug-target interactions using molecular visualization software and an introduction to molecular dynamics methods that were implemented in secondary school classrooms. A pre- and postsurvey approach that incorporated Likert response type, written free response, and drawing-based items demonstrated that students gained an enhanced conceptualization of intermolecular interactions, particularly related to aspects of shape complementarity, after completing the activities. Students also expressed increased comfort with and facility in utilizing different three-dimensional representations of molecules in their postsurvey responses. The activities led to an increased appreciation of interdisciplinary connections of chemistry with mathematics and physics. Overall, the modular activities presented provide a relatively time-efficient and accessible manner to help promote an understanding of a traditionally challenging topic for beginning chemistry students while introducing them to contemporary research tools.

Implementation and Evaluation of a Team-Based Electrochemistry Module in a Large Undergraduate Class

Introductory chemistry courses at the undergraduate level offer students a foundation in chemistry principles and an opportunity to develop problem-solving skills. These principles and skill sets are widely applicable across disciplines, and thus first year chemistry courses are a gateway for many programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). While first-year chemistry courses are essential for STEM students, the resulting large-enrolment classes in universities can lead to challenges in implementing active learning and in helping students to reach the course learning outcomes. The evolving field of Chemistry Education Research (CER) offers data and insight for improving teaching and learning strategies at the undergraduate level. We propose and evaluate an electrochemistry team-based problem-solving module as an active learning component of a large, first-year, blended chemistry course. In this paper, we explore the process for developing the module and evaluate this learning approach through focus groups, a large class survey, and student experience interviews. Through a preliminary case study approach, our findings suggest the interactive module is useful for enhancing conceptual understanding and problem-solving in chemistry, and improving academic confidence in electrochemistry learning outcomes. Moreover, students valued their engagement with the team-based problem-solving modules as an opportunity to build community, learn collaboratively, and successfully approach relevant problems.

Enhancing self-learning skills and quality through formative actions and feedback within chemistry classes in the laboratory – A useful model

In here a novel method is described to improve student success rates in a first-year basic chemistry theoretical/practical hybrid course (n = 31 students) by implementing simple ways of formative assessment. This to reduce student dropout rates following the philosophy of encouraging students’ self-control. Essential is to train first-year bachelor students in their self-learning skills and to enhance their evaluative judgment. As a result, students are able to provide better quality of the assessment products at the end of the course. In practice the course is redesigned and intervention tools are integrated at multiple levels throughout the course. The lecturers’ role was adapted to a coaching role, thereby introducing low-effort personalized micro-interventions to meet the personalized needs of students. To clarify these learning needs for students, awareness of the quality desired for the final assessment products is important. Awareness was improved by providing examples of varying quality and introducing multiple peer- and self-assessment moments during the course. The final evaluation of the course examination products showed that the quality of the laboratory notebook was substantially higher after following this approach. Additionally students learned other important skills such as self-learning skills, collaborating in practical work and giving and receiving feedback. Unexpectedly, the high perceived lecturers’ workload decreased. The work presented here provides a novel approach in the form of a model and a practical blueprint with tools for a practical chemistry course design which develops students’ self-learning skills thereby substantially improving student success rates. In our example course, the ultimate student success rate increased form 83 % to 95 % after using this novel approach.

Redefining Student Learning Identities

This paper presents a focused examination of a practitioner research case study, honing in on twelve college students in a class of thirty-seven, enrolled in a chemistry course within a blended learning framework. Over the course of two years, the research aimed to delve deeply into the impact of networked learning experiences on the learning identities of these students. Through meticulous exploration using in-depth interviews, significant positive transformations in the learning identities of these twelve students were unearthed. The research question guiding this work was to understand how the blended learning approach, which included an online networked learning component supplementing face-to-face learning, brought about a change in student learning. The study investigated the impact of online participation on the learning identities of the students and how, in turn, the class was generally affected by the transformation of student identities. By examining the interplay between online and face-to-face learning modalities, this research sheds light on the complex dynamics shaping the learning experiences and identities of college students in blended learning environments. Distinctly, the investigation identified two main components of the student learning identity. These are the academic and positional sub-identities. The academic identity transformation was particularly noteworthy, revealing an emergent sense of control, agency, empowerment, and competence as a result of the students embracing online collaborative learning. Simultaneously, the research brought to light changes in the positional identity, encompassing persona-related, acted, and relational identities. The interplay of these identities within the class fostered a profound sense of belonging, of being valued, and connectedness among the students, extending its influence into the face-to-face learning contexts.The findings emphasize that networked learning collaborative skills not only enhance traditional educational practices but also play a key role in effecting positive changes in students' learning identities. The integration of online collaborative learning within traditional educational settings emerged as a catalyst for fundamental transformations in how students perceive and engage with their learning processes. The research contributes to knowledge on the impact of digital pedagogies on learning identities and suggests that educators can use online collaborative learning experiences to cultivate a more profound impact on students' learning identities and engagement, thereby enriching both theory and practice in education. It offers valuable insights on fostering dynamic and empowered learning environments to educators.

Validation of a Rubric to Assess Physiology Exam Multiple Choice Questions to Create Fair and Equitable Assessments

Inequities and achievement gaps exist for students from groups underrepresented in medicine (URiM) and for English language learners (ELLs). This is particularly evident with multiple choice assessments which are prevalent in health professions and medical education. Increasing the linguistic accessibility of test items by simplifying the language used while keeping the content diffculty was perceived as helpful to ELLs in an undergraduate Chemistry course (Lee & Orgill, 2022). Following best practices when writing exam questions provides consistent and valid measures of student comprehension. Across institutions we face similar challenges when forming and assessing multiple choice questions for our physiology exams. Some major flaws include long complex options; using vague terms; negatively structured stems; grammatical cues; word repeats. Lopez (2023) found that 56% items contained at least one flaw. The most common flaws identified were those in which the items were not approximately the same length and item options that did not have parallel grammatical form and structure. In order to address these issues in an objective way, we collectively modified the previously detailed rubric (Lopez, 2023) for identifying common flaws based on the “Item-Writing Guide” from the National Board of Medical Education (NBME®) and one formed in the context of general chemistry by Breakall et al. (2019). Twenty-six questions from physiology exams at three different institutions were evaluated by three faculty using the newly created rubric. After analyzing the questions, we returned as a group and compared our individual ratings, clarified any discrepancies and modified the rubric accordingly. We will conduct statistical analysis to assess our inter-rater reliability score before using this rubric to analyze the full question banks for physiology exams at each institution. This process is not limited to physiology educators since it can be utilized by teachers in any program or discipline. The significance of the work will not only benefit our validation of learning but it will also address specific equity issues by eliminating flaws that provide irrelevant diffculty or benefit test wise students. Furthermore, this rubric is also helpful in generating new questions for future exams, ensuring equitable assessments.

Неудобные вопросы школьного курса неорганической химии

The article discusses several issues in the school course in inorganic chemistry that are usually left without explanation. The answers to these questions will make the course more logical and interesting, increase the motivation of students to a deeper study of chemistry.

The need analysis for computational chemistry based learning media atomic structure and chemical bonding basic chemistry courses

The need analysis for computational chemistry based learning media atomic structure and chemical bonding basic chemistry courses

Examining How Supplemental Instruction Impacts Students’ Motivation in Organic Chemistry

This study investigates the effect of Supplemental Instruction (SI) on students’ motivation and learning outcomes in an introductory Organic Chemistry course for non-majors. SI, conducted by experienced facilitators, offers a range of academic support for students that may include reviewing challenging concepts, working through practice problems, and answering student questions. To assess the impact of SI in this Organic Chemistry course, we measured several parameters: student engagement during SI sessions, exam scores and final course grades, as well as self-reported motivation levels at both the beginning and end of the semester. We performed a linear regression analysis and observed a positive correlation between SI participation and improved performance on certain exams for SI participants. Further analysis showed that student motivation alone could be driving these improvements. These results suggest that while SI may be beneficial for some students, greater emphasis should be placed on ensuring that students are motivated to learn difficult concepts.

Integrating Virtual Tools Into the Face-To-Face Teaching of Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry

At the National University of Luján, traditional classroom-based instruction characterized the analytical chemistry courses. However, in response to evolving educational needs, a transition to hybrid education combining virtual and face-to-face activities is occurring. In this context, some questions arise: Can all face-to-face activities be replaced by virtual activities? What benefits does the inclusion of virtual activities bring to the curriculum? Reflecting on the experiences gained during the virtual instruction period that occurred due to the pandemic, the teaching group recognized the value of integrating virtual and face-to-face components. In a comparative assessment of teaching tools, the consensus emerged that a blended approach is crucial for effective analytical chemistry education in the current educational landscape. The findings indicated that, for theoretical lessons, a hybrid approach with face-to-face sessions complemented by asynchronous virtual tools proved to be advantageous. This allowed students the flexibility to review lessons at their convenience. Regarding bench work, a preference for face-to-face instruction was noted, as it facilitated hands-on experience in laboratories with real equipment and samples. In addition, it was found that the simulation software for gas and liquid chromatography equipment allowed the incorporation of valuable experiences for the study of both methodologies without extending the time required to carry out the practical work or requiring new inputs.

Keeping Analytical Chemistry Training Up-to-Date.

The undergraduate analytical chemistry curriculum serves to equip students with the knowledge and skills for work outside of classroom training. As such, instructors face a challenging task in deciding the breadth and depth of topics for their courses to ensure their syllabi can remain up-to-date with today's needs. We propose that instructors consider covering capillary electrophoresis (CE) and lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies in their analytical chemistry courses. Past surveys of the curriculum show a noticeable lack of emphasis on these topics, which we feel is a missed opportunity and one that holds potential for the collective benefit of instructors and students. CE and LOCs are utilized in a diverse array of fields like biochemistry, pharmaceutical production, materials science, and environmental analysis, and their applications are becoming increasingly important amidst the growing movement toward environmentally sustainable practices and green chemistry. They are also more accessible in the analytical chemistry classroom compared with typical benchtop instruments due to the flexibility of their size and cost. This makes them easier to obtain, maintain, and transport for use and demonstration purposes. Additionally, interwoven in these topics are core concepts that are fundamental to analytical chemistry; thus, covering them will inherently reinforce students' understanding of fundamental knowledge. Therefore, we believe increased coverage of CE and LOCs can better prepare undergraduates for modern analytical chemistry work in various industries and fields of research.

Особенности преподавания аналитической химии студентам фармацевтического профиля

The article reveals some features of teaching analytical chemistry as one of the main subjects for training future pharmacists. It is shown that the course of analytical chemistry forms the basic practical skills necessary in subsequent professional activity. The difficulties of teaching analytical chemistry associated with time constraints and a large volume of material that is submitted for consideration at the lecture are noted. This requires a very clear structure and sequence from the teacher, as well as multimedia accompaniment, which contributes to a better perception of the material presented and its assimilation. It is necessary that each practical lesson be provided with methodological recommendations, materials for preparing for a practical lesson, tests for knowledge control, situational tasks, as well as methodological recommendations for independent work of students. Special attention is paid to the importance of solving computational problems, which is an integral part of the practical lesson. This allows you to better understand the basic methods and techniques of chemical analysis, as well as acquire comprehensive chemical knowledge necessary for the successful study of professional disciplines. Assimilation of knowledge in analytical chemistry is a necessary step in preparing students for the conscious perception of specialized disciplines – pharmaceutical chemistry, technology, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, toxicological chemistry.

Students’ Experience of a ChatGPT Enabled Final Exam in a Non-Majors Chemistry Course

Students’ Experience of a ChatGPT Enabled Final Exam in a Non-Majors Chemistry Course

Synthesis and Characterization of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: A Series of Laboratory Experiments.

The following laboratory procedure provides students with hands-on experience in nanomaterial chemistry and characterization. This three-day protocol is easy to follow for undergraduates with basic chemistry or materials science backgrounds and is suitable for inclusion in upper-division courses in inorganic chemistry or materials science. Students use air-free chemistry procedures to synthesize and separate iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles and subsequently modify the nanoparticle surface by using a chemical stripping agent. The morphology and chemical composition of the nanoparticles are characterized using electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements. Additionally, magnetic characterization of the particles is performed using an inexpensive open-source (3D-printed) magnetophotometer. Possible modifications to the synthesis procedure, including the incorporation of dopants to modify the magnetic response and alternative characterization techniques, are discussed. The three-day synthesis, purification, and characterization laboratory will prepare students with crucial skills for advanced technology industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, nanomedicine, and green chemistry.

Use of specifications-based grading in an online, asynchronous graduate organic chemistry course

Specifications-based grading is an alternative grading scheme that emphasizes student proficiency of learning objectives. Course grades are determined by the number of objectives completed rather than the number of points accumulated. At the University of Saint Joseph, CHEM 510 Intermediate Organic Chemistry is the foundation course that all incoming graduate students take in their first semester of the fully online, asynchronous MS programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students in CHEM 510 complete the entire course online and at their own pace within the structured due dates, which presents unique challenges compared with synchronous learning modalities. With these considerations in mind, CHEM 510 was revised to use a specifications-based grading scheme with an a la carte assessment menu and token system. Generally, students found the alternative grading scheme helpful, but they needed additional instructions and time to adjust to the new grading system. By the end of the semester, students expressed their appreciation for the ability to choose their assessment method, work at their own pace, and use the token system for extensions/retakes. The instructor found that implementation of specifications grading took greater time for the initial course setup, but did not require more time than points-based grading once the course began. One large positive outcome was that student-instructor interactions were more frequently about the content of the course rather than grades. Overall, there was a slight increase in the course’s pass rate compared to the pass rate prior to the change in grading modality. We believe that the implementation of the a la carte assessment menu accommodates a more diverse population of learners without sacrificing the integrity of student learning. Additionally, we believe that the diverse assessment opportunities were critical for the successful implementation of specifications-based learning in the online classroom environment, though further extension of the menu in synchronous, in-person classroom settings may be challenging.