Physical Science Course Research Articles

The Role of Gamification on Students Academic Performance in Senior High School Physical Science Course

Gamification plays an important role in the learning process. This study aimed to signifies the role of gamification on the students’ academic performance in senior high school physical science course. Forty grade 11 senior high schools were the subject of this study. The control group was exposed the traditional teaching in the 21 st century with the use of multimedia teaching while the experimental group was exposed to a gamified classroom with the use of a gamification platform. A 30-item test was given before and after the intervention. The results were tabulated and tested statistically with the used of SPSS software. The result of the independent t-test for the pretest of the control and the experimental group showed that the two groups were comparable. The t-test for the independent sample for the posttest for the two groups suggests that gamification had improved the academic performance of the students. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test for the pretest and posttest of the controlled group had also shown a positive change in the result of the test. It is recommended to use the gamification across all learning areas to test further its effectiveness in the academic performance of the students.

Bouncing Droplets: A Hands-On Activity To Demonstrate the Properties and Applications of Superhydrophobic Surface Coatings

Here we report a hands-on activity addressed to master’s students in Physical Chemistry and Materials Science courses on the properties and applications of superhydrophobic surfaces. This simple and intuitive experience can also be used to teach undergraduate and high school students, thanks to its application-oriented approach and tangible results. Superhydrophobicity was achieved by the functionalization of oxide powders with alkylsilanes and their subsequent deposition on a glass substrate. The film’s superhydrophobicity was assessed by different application tests and compared with the behaviors of model hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and superhydrophilic surfaces. Its antistain properties were tested with both model dye solutions and everyday liquids. Films were fouled with graphite and dye powders to compare the self-cleaning capabilities of the different surfaces, and single droplet transport was achieved by adding magnetic particles. This engaging and adaptable experience introduces students to basic concepts of surface science in an intuitive and tangible way.

Identifying the challenging characteristics of systems thinking encountered by undergraduate students in chemistry problem-solving of gas laws

Systems thinking has been an educational priority for more than a decade, yet its related assessment and teaching strategies have been understudied in the chemistry education research community. Through the lens of systems thinking, this study explores how undergraduate students connect and translate their conceptual representations when they are involved in contextualised problem-solving. The ‘Contextualised Problem Solving’ (CPS) assessment instrument contains four open-ended questions about gas law. Three different cohorts of students registered in a physical science course (2016 Fall, 2017 Spring, 2017 Fall semesters) participated in the problem-solving component of CPS. The results showed that only 8% of students were capable of higher order systems thinking ability when they engaged in problem solving. Over half of the students failed to retrieve essential concepts in problem situations. Most of the participants demonstrated difficulties in organising related systems’ components, understanding the cyclic nature of relationships among systems, and identifying limitations in a specific problem context. By identifying the difficulties and challenges of systems thinking experienced by undergraduate students in solving complex chemistry problems, these findings have the potential to provide fresh insights into effective teaching strategies to promote students’ higher order thinking skills.

The impact of formative and shared or co-assessment on the acquisition of transversal competences in higher education

The use of formative and shared or co-assessment has been shown to improve the motivation, involvement and learning of university students. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect that implementing these processes has on university students’ perception of their acquisition of transversal competences. The participants in the study were 1021 students from five Spanish universities taking degree courses in primary education or physical education and sport science. They all experienced formative and shared or co-assessment throughout a complete academic year of their courses. For the data collection, a Self-Perception Scale of Transversal Competences was created, which had adequate values of reliability and validity. Using a transversal design (inter-subjects), inferential statistical analysis was undertaken of the differences in means between the perception of a range of transversal competences before and after the course. The results show significant perceived improvements at the end of the course for most of the competences analysed, which indicates, among other thing, the value and importance of this type of assessment for the educational process.

To Go Virtual or Not to Go Virtual, That is the Question: A Comparative Study of Face-To-Face Versus Virtual Laboratories in a Physical Science Course

To Go Virtual or Not to Go Virtual, That is the Question: A Comparative Study of Face-To-Face Versus Virtual Laboratories in a Physical Science Course

Learning Logs and the efficacy of autonomous reflecting

This paper examines the educational impact of a prepilot study on the “Learning Logs” literacy strategy as it was used in Louisiana. The study examined how students’ conceptual understanding of kinematics and Newton’s laws were impacted in a ninth-grade physical science course. The findings address a gap within the current research literature concerning the efficacy of the strategy in the high-school physics classroom. Pre- and posttesting evidence demonstrated that participating in the end-of-class activity of autonomous reflection, without instructor feedback, resulted in negative learning gains and reinforcement of misconceptions. The data collected demonstrate a need for a more standardized feedback system to better inform students and teachers on conceptual mastery.

Introducing fundamental object-oriented programming concepts in preschool education within the context of physical science courses

Objects are everywhere. People deal with them from the beginning of their lives. From babyhood, they start to recognise them and, progressively, learn to define their attributes and designate the actions related to them. Although the basis of object-oriented programming is translating real-world objects into the object-oriented code, learning object-oriented programming is still a difficult task. To overcome this difficulty, we have to specify the right starting point of teaching basic object-oriented concepts and mark out the appropriate educational tools. In this paper, trying to answer the above questions, we present a research proposal on how fundamental object-oriented programming concepts could be introduced to children in early childhood education when physical science courses take place. The backbone of our research is the digital environment PhysGramming, through which children turn into creators, according to the theory of constructivism. The innovative aspect of PhysGramming is that children create their own games while studying physical science, in a way that provides familiarity with the basic principles of object-oriented programming and computational thinking, even though no specific reference is made to these principles.

Grade perceptions of students in chemistry coursework at all levels

Various reasons are attributed to poor student performance in physical science courses such as lack of motivation, lack of ability, and/or the overall difficulty of these courses. One overlooked reason is a lack of self-awareness as to preparation level. Through a study over a two-year period, students at all levels (freshman through M.S.) of a chemistry program were surveyed and asked to self-report predictions of their score on examinations. At all levels, strong evidence of the Kruger–Dunning effect was seen where higher performing students tended to underpredict their examination scores while the lowest performing students tended to grossly overpredict their scores.

Designing a GPS Mobile Tour—A Lesson in User-Centered Design

This case presents the design of a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) guided smartphone tour. The tour was a redesign of an assignment for an introductory Physical Science course in which students take a guided tour of a local canyon. The app is downloaded to students’ personal devices and provides a guided tour. I am giving special attention to how the user’s experience is shaped by the environment, technology and social context which surrounds the tour.

A Case of Fragmented High School Earth and Space Science Education in the Great Plains: Tracing Teacher Certification Policy to Students' Access

ABSTRACTAlthough U.S. high school students' access to Earth and space science (ESS) varies widely from state to state, nationally, ESS content is the most neglected area of science education and scientific literacy. States have been considering whether they will formally adopt, or less formally adapt, the new national science education standards, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which have been carefully developed and articulated in conjunction with state education leaders. However, there are many challenges with which states, school districts, and teachers must grapple to enact standards-aligned ESS science lessons. This study of one Great Plains state investigated how school districts provide ESS education at the high school level and to what degree is ESS being taught by qualified teachers. We found that 76% of districts added ESS topics to existing physical science and/or biology courses rather than offer a stand-alone ESS course. During the eight-year period investigated, the state awarded 901 science teaching endorsements to either new secondary teachers of which only 3.3% were single-subject ESS endorsements. In Phase I and II of our study we found that only 7% of science teachers teach ESS with an ESS endorsement versus a general science or other science subject area endorsement. When teachers teach ESS out-of-field they lack the confidence and subject matter knowledge to teach effectively using inquiry-based approaches and are less likely to recognize misconceptions and oversimplification of ESS content.

テクノクラフトによる和歌の情景表現

It is thought that many primary school girls and female junior high school students are interested in a love story in a comic book, a novel, a TV drama, or a movie. In addition, they are interested in handcrafts and fashion. Therefore we make them express the performance of the scene of HYAKUNIN-ISSYU and MANYOUSYUU which are traditional Japanese language culture by using the microcomputer-controlled crafts. Through the students' creative activities of art design, we make them interested in electronic work, engineering, traditional culture and physical science course. This will be a teaching material of logical communication to put one's ideas across.

Teaching Reciprocal Space to Undergraduates via Theory and Code Components of an IPython Notebook

In this technology report, a tool is provided for teaching reciprocal space to undergraduates in physical chemistry and materials science courses. Reciprocal space plays a vital role in understanding a material’s electronic structure and physical properties. Here, we provide an example based on previous work in the Journal of Chemical Education literature, carry out a calculation of reciprocal space vectors by hand, and present a computational tool for applying this mathematical process to other systems. Along with this paper, we have provided the stand-alone Python program that converts real space vectors to reciprocal space vectors and have also provided an IPython notebook that combines theory with components of the full Python code so that instructors can use this tool in their physical chemistry or materials science lectures.

What are Middle School Students Talking About During Clicker Questions? Characterizing Small-Group Conversations Mediated by Classroom Response Systems

There is a growing interest in using classroom response systems or clickers in science classrooms at both the university and K-12 levels. Typically, when instructors use this technology, students are asked to answer and discuss clicker questions with their peers. The existing literature on using clickers at the K-12 level has largely focused on the efficacy of clicker implementation, with few studies investigating collaboration and discourse among students. To expand on this work, we investigated the question: Does clicker use promote productive peer discussion among middle school science students? Specifically, we collected data from middle school students in a physical science course. Students were asked to answer a clicker question individually, discuss the question with their peers, answer the same question again, and then subsequently answer a new matched-pair question individually. We audio recorded the peer conversations to characterize the nature of the student discourse. To analyze these conversations, we used a grounded analysis approach and drew on literature about collaborative knowledge co-construction. The analysis of the conversations revealed that middle school students talked about science content and collaboratively discussed ideas. Furthermore, the majority of conversations, both ones that positively and negatively impacted student performance, contained evidence of collaborative knowledge co-construction.

A Simple Mechanical Experiment on Exponential Growth

With a rod, cord, pulleys, and slotted masses, students can observe and graph exponential growth in the cord tension over a factor of increase as large as several hundred. This experiment is adaptable for use either in algebra-based or calculus-based physics courses, fitting naturally with the study of sliding friction. Significant parts of the activity are accessible to students in physical science and environmental science courses.

A sociohistorical examination of George Herbert Mead's approach to science education.

Although George Herbert Mead is widely known for his social psychological work, his views on science education also represent a significant, yet sometimes overlooked contribution. In a speech delivered in March 1906 entitled "The Teaching of Science in College," Mead calls for cultural courses on the sciences, such as sociology of science or history of science courses, to increase the relevancy of natural and physical science courses for high school and university students. These views reflect Mead's perspective on a number of traditional dualisms, including objectivity versus subjectivity and the social sciences versus natural and physical sciences. Taking a sociohistorical outlook, I identify the context behind Mead's approach to science education, which includes three major influences: (1) German intellectual thought and the Methodenstreit debate, (2) pragmatism and Darwin's theory of evolution, and (3) social reform efforts in Chicago and the General Science Movement.

Noncovalent Derivatization: A Laboratory Experiment for Understanding the Principles of Molecular Recognition and Self-Assembly through Phase Behavior

An experiment focusing on the creation of phase diagrams involving nonconvalent derivatives of hydroquinone and bis[N,N-diethyl]terephthalamide (HQ-DETPA) is presented. A phase diagram was assembled by taking samples of different compositions (i.e., 40% hydroquinone and 60% bis[N,N-diethyl]terephthalamide, 70%/30%, etc.) and determining the melting points of each sample. This experiment is suitable for students enrolled in a physical chemistry class or materials science course and was effectively accomplished by three pairs of students. The experiment requires two 3-h lab sessions. Background information, experimental procedure and hazards, and results of the research are detailed. Results indicate that the noncovalent derivatization successfully provides a co-crystal that assembles into a 50:50 molar ratio. The eutectic points are shown to take place at the 25:75 and 75:25 molar ratios, respectively. Because entropy was the driving force behind the assembly of the co-crystals, the presence of a maximum point on the phase diagram, which represents the highest value of enthalpy and lowest point of entropy, was also witnessed and occurred at the 50:50 molar ratio of HQ to DETPA.

Gender Gap in School Science: Are Single-Sex Schools Important?

This paper compares science subject choices and science-related career plans of Australian adolescents in single-sex and coeducational schools. Data from the nationally representative Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth collected from students who were 15 years of age in 2009 show that, in all schools, boys are overrepresented in physical science courses and careers, while girls are overrepresented in life science. It appears that students in all-girls schools are more likely to take physical science subjects and are keener on careers in physics, computing or engineering than their counterparts in coeducational schools. However, multi-level logit regressions reveal that most apparent differences between students in single-sex and coeducational schools are brought about by differentials in academic achievement, parental characteristics, student’s science self-concept, study time and availability of qualified teachers. The only differences remaining after introducing control variables are the higher propensity of boys in single-sex schools to plan a life science career and the marginally lower propensity of girls in girls-only schools to study life science subjects. Thus, single-sex schooling fosters few non-traditional choices of science specialization. The paper discusses the likely consequences of gender segregation in science and a limited potential of single-sex schools to reduce them. The results of the current analysis are contrasted with a comparable study conducted in Australia a decade ago to illustrate the persistence of the gender gap in science field choices.

Helping Students Make Sense of Graphs: An Experimental Trial of SmartGraphs Software

Graphs are commonly used in science, mathematics, and social sciences to convey important concepts; yet students at all ages demonstrate difficulties interpreting graphs. This paper reports on an experimental study of free, Web-based software called SmartGraphs that is specifically designed to help students overcome their misconceptions regarding graphs. SmartGraphs allows students to interact with graphs and provides hints and scaffolding to help students, if they need help. SmartGraphs activities can be authored to be useful in teaching and learning a variety of topics that use graphs (such as slope, velocity, half-life, and global warming). A 2-year experimental study in physical science classrooms was conducted with dozens of teachers and thousands of students. In the first year, teachers were randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. Data show that students of teachers who use SmartGraphs as a supplement to normal instruction make greater gains understanding graphs than control students studying the same content using the same textbooks, but without SmartGraphs. Additionally, teachers believe that the SmartGraphs activities help students meet learning goals in the physical science course, and a great majority reported they would use the activities with students again. In the second year of the study, several specific variations of SmartGraphs were researched to help determine what makes SmartGraphs effective.

'Should I Stay or Should I go'?

Research on the achievement of rural and remote students in science and mathematics is located within a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian schools, and underrepresentation of rural students in higher education. International studies such as the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), have reported lower levels of mathematical and scientific literacy in Australian students from rural and remote schools (Thomson et al, 2011). The SiMERR national survey of science, mathematics and ICT education in rural and regional Australia (Lyons et al, 2006) identified factors affecting student achievement in rural and remote schools. Many of the issues faced by rural and remote students in their schools are likely to have implications on their university enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. For example, rural and remote students are less likely to attend university in general than their city counterparts and higher university attrition rates have been reported for remote students nationally. This paper examines the responses of a sample of rural/remote Australian first year STEM students at Australian universities to two questions. These related to their intentions to complete the course; and whether -and if so, why- they had ever considered withdrawing from their course. Results indicated that rural students who were still in their course by the end of first year were no more or less likely to consider withdrawing than were their peers from more populous centres. However, almost 20% of the rural cohort had considered withdrawing at some stage in their course, and their explanations provide insights into the reasoning of those who may not persist with their courses at university. These results, in the context of the greater attrition rate of remote students from university, point to the need to identify factors that positively impact on rural and remote students’ interest and achievement in science and mathematics. It also highlights a need for future research into the particular issues remote students may face in deciding whether or not to do science at the two key transition points of senior school and university/TAFE studies, and whether or not to persist in their tertiary studies. This paper is positioned at the intersection of two problems in Australian education. The first is a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian universities. The second is persistent inequitable access to, and retention in, tertiary education for students from rural and remote areas. Despite considerable research attention to both of these areas over recent years these problems have thus far proved to be intractable. This paper therefore aims to briefly review the relevant Australian literature pertaining to these issues; that is, declining STEM enrolments, and the underrepresentation and retention of rural/remote students in higher education. Given the related problems in these two overlapping domains, we then explore the views of first year rural students enrolled in STEM courses, in relation to their intentions of withdrawing (or not) and the associated reasons for their views.

Preparation of Transparent Superhydrophobic Glass Slides: Demonstration of Surface Chemistry Characteristics

A demonstration for undergraduate teaching in upper-division physical chemistry and materials science courses is described. A simple protocol was developed to prepare superhydrophobic and hydrophobic glass by treating standard microscope slides with methyltrichlorosilane and octadecyltrichlorosilane, respectively. The unique wetting, optical, and self-cleaning properties of the modified surfaces can be demonstrated to students in class. Octadecyltrichlorosilane forms a closely packed, methyl-terminated, self-assembled monolayer that changes the glass surface from hydrophilic to hydrophobic; treatment with methyltrichlorosilane yields 3-dimensional polymethylsiloxane networked nanostructures, which leads to a superhydrophobic surface, that is, water droplets sit atop in the Cassie–Baxter state. In both cases, the glass slides maintain optical transparency despite remarkable changes in the surface wettability. A classroom demonstration of superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning using these surfaces, along with a brief explanation, motivates students to apply their basic knowledge of chemistry to study natural phenomena and practical applications.