Loretta L. Jones

A review of literature reports of clickers applicable to college chemistry classrooms

The use of clickers (also referred to as Audience Paced Feedback, Classroom Communication Systems, Personal Response Systems, Electronic Voting Systems, Student Response Systems, Audience Response Systems, voting-machines, and zappers) has grown in college chemistry classrooms within the last decade. This review summarizes the pedagogic applications of research on clickers as well as insights from their practical use. Fifty-six publications reporting on the use of clickers in college-level science classrooms are categorized as practical application or research studies, and reviewed. Publications on the practical use of clickers suggest that students have a positive attitude towards the technology and that many benefits and few drawbacks are associated with its use. Research studies show that the use of clickers results in measurable increases in student learning in some cases and inconclusive results in other cases. In every published report of student improvement with the use of clickers, the course included student collaboration of some form.

Effect of a labratory manual design incorporating visual information-processing aids on student learning and attitudes

The elements of visual information-processing theory were applied to the design of a chemistry laboratory manual. The effectiveness of this approach on content learning, practical skill mastery, and attitudes of university students in a general chemistry course was assessed. Two versions of a laboratory manual were developed: an experimental version that promotes visual information processing by integrating pictures or diagrams with text, and a control version identical to the experimental version in both activities and structure, but without pictures or diagrams. Three assessment instruments were used: an achievement test to assess cognitive outcomes, an attitude survey to assess affective outcomes, and a manipulative skills observation checklist to assess psychomotor outcomes. Results showed that the manual incorporating visual information-processing characteristics helped students gain significantly higher scores on measures of achievement and psychomotor skills, and also stimulated students to develop more favorable attitudes toward the laboratory activities.

Molecular visualization in chemistry education: the role of multidisciplinary collaboration

Visualization tools and high performance computing have changed the nature of chemistry research and have the promise to transform chemistry instruction. However, the images central to chemistry research can pose difficulties for beginning chemistry students. In order for molecular visualization tools to be useful in education, students must be able to interpret the images they produce. Cognitive scientists can provide valuable insight into how novices perceive and ascribe meaning to molecular visualizations. Further insights from educators, computer scientists and developers, and graphic artists are important for chemistry educators who want to help students learn with molecular visualizations. A diverse group of scientists, educators, developers, and cognitive psychologists have begun a series of international collaborations to address this issue. The effort was initiated at the National Science Foundation supported Molecular Visualization in Science Education Workshop held in 2001 and has continued through a series of mini-grants. These groups are investigating characteristics of molecular representations and visualizations that enhance learning, interactions with molecular visualizations that best help students learn about molecular structure and dynamics, roles of molecular modeling in chemistry instruction, and fruitful directions for research on molecular visualization in the learning of chemistry. This article summarizes the value of collaboration identified by participants in the workshop and subsequent collaborations. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2005, 6 (3), 136-149]

Words or Pictures: A comparison of written and pictorial explanations of physical and chemical equilibria

The features of a concept or principle an individual chooses to highlight in an explanation or description may be related to the medium of communication used. Different aspects of understanding can be revealed through words and through drawings. This two-part exploratory study examined the differences between explanations of physical and chemical equilibria generated by means of words or pictures. Participants included both instructors and students, who were randomly assigned to provide either written explanations or drawings of physical or chemical equilibrium at the macroscopic and particulate levels. For both studies, analyses revealed that significantly different features appeared in the written and pictorial explanations of equilibrium. The written responses focused more on processes such as the dynamic nature of equilibrium, whereas pictorial representations highlighted structural aspects of equilibrium, such as the spatial arrangement of molecules. Regardless of the level of chemistry knowledge, people conveyed the same type of information via the use of different representations and visual tools.

The role of multiple representations in the understanding of ideal gas problems

This study examined the representational competence of students as they solved problems dealing with the temperature-pressure relationship for ideal gases. Seven students enrolled in a first-semester general chemistry course and two advanced undergraduate science majors participated in the study. The written work and transcripts from videotaped think-aloud sessions were evaluated with a rubric designed to identify essential features of representational competence, as well as differences in student use of multiple representations. The data showed that both beginning and advanced chemistry students tend to prefer one type of representation. However, advanced students were more likely to use their preferred representations in a heuristic manner to establish meaning for other representations. Students were found to build conceptual understanding most easily when using familiar types of representations. Molecular-level sketches representing dynamic concepts not easily represented as static images, such as an increase in average molecular velocity, were the most difficult type of representation for students to interpret. These results suggest that students may benefit from instructional strategies that emphasize the heuristic use of multiple representations in chemistry problem solving.

Impact of a Pre-Laboratory Organic-Extraction Simulation on Comprehension and Attitudes of Undergraduate Chemistry Students.

Many students perform extraction experiments without connecting relevant molecular features to corresponding macroscopic features. Two versions of an Organic Extraction Simulation, one with text captions and the other with narration accompanying the animation, were developed based on a cognitive view of multimedia learning. This instructional module was intended to help students to visualize extraction concepts at the molecular level, and to connect these concepts with corresponding macroscopic procedure. Organic Chemistry I students (N = 106) were randomly assigned to use one of two versions of the simulation (with text or narration). They completed a spatial ability test, and a pre-test and a post-test on organic extraction concepts. Post-test scores for both versions were significantly higher than pre-test scores. MANCOVA with a pre-test score covariate indicated that simulation version had a significant effect on lower-order cognitive questions (p = 0.036), while spatial ability was significantly correlated with higher-order cognitive questions (p = 0.004). Students in the narration group had significantly more positive attitudes towards the effectiveness of the simulation than did those in the text group.

Differential Effects of a Multimedia Goal-based Scenario To Teach Introductory Biochemistry--Who Benefits Most?

This study investigated the relationship of cognitive and demographic variables to learning outcomes from a multimedia Goal-Based Scenario (GBS) lesson on DNA. The demographic variables under investigation were gender, ethnicity, prior science coursework in college and high school, final score in current chemistry course, and prior experience with computers. The cognitive variables under study were logical thinking ability, spatial ability, and disembedding ability. The subjects for this study were a total of 488 college students enrolled in introductory chemistry classes for nonmajors at one of four participating institutions in the United States and Canada. All subjects completed content pre- and posttests, a demographic questionnaire, and three cognitive tests: Test of Logical Thinking, Hidden Figures Test, and Purdue Visualization of Rotations Test. Students completed Whodunnit?, a multimedia GBS developed to teach basic biochemistry concepts pertaining to DNA. Logical thinking ability was the only cognitive variable to show a relationship with learning outcomes. There was no relationship between gender or ethnicity and academic outcomes. The number of science courses completed in high school was a significant predictor of academic outcomes. A relationship was observed between course rank and learning outcomes, as students with final course grades in the upper quartile of the sample scored significantly higher on the posttest than those in all other quartiles.

Multimedia technology: A catalyst for change in chemical education

Multimedia chemistry lessons using video images stored on either videodiscs or CDROM allow students to safely investigate a wide variety of chemical systems. The technology also allows students to perform more experiments than possible in a laboratory setting alone and to interact with course content while conducting experiments. These capabilities challenge our beliefs about what kinds of activities are possible for introductory chemistry students.

Dynamic Visualizations: Tools for Understanding the Particulate Nature of Matter

Various methods and tools have been used by chemistry instructors to help students visualize the particulate nature of matter. One such method is the use of dynamic computer visualizations to depict molecular structures and processes that occur at the particulate level. The impacts of various kinds of visualizations on students’ understanding of chemical phenomena have been studied by a number of investigators, and the implications of their findings can provide insight to chemical educators. This article reviews research on the effects of dynamic computer visualizations used in chemistry instruction, especially visualizations of the particulate level, and summarizes their implications for educators.

How Does Level of Guidance Affect Understanding When Students Use a Dynamic Simulation of Liquid–Vapor Equilibrium?

In Chapter 13 entitled “How Does Level of Guidance Affect Understanding When Students Use a Dynamic Simulation of Liquid–Vapor Equilibrium?” Akaygun and Jones present research on visualizations of molecular structure and dynamics being powerful learning tools. Scientific visualizations that are enlightening for experts may not only be difficult for novices to interpret, but may also not address misconceptions commonly held by novices. The chapter explores the students’ learning using either a worksheet with a high level of guidance or a more open-ended worksheet with a minimal level of guidance. Students also completed a pre-test and post-test of conceptual understanding and an attitude survey. Results showed that many students were able to correct their understandings after learning with simulation. No difference in conceptual understanding was found between the groups using worksheets of different guidance levels. However, comments about both simulation and worksheets on the evaluation questionnaire were more positive for students who had used the open-ended version. Students who had used the open-ended worksheet were also more likely to focus on the content of the lesson in their remarks, while students who used the more guided worksheets were more likely to focus on the structure of the lesson.