Paul B. Hounshell

Using Three-Dimensional Models to Teach Molecular Structures in High School Chemistry.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of using two- and three-dimensional model representations of molecular structures on student learning of organic chemical structures. Organic structures were taught to high school students using one of four methods of molecular representation: (1) two-dimensional textbook representations, (2) three-dimensional computer models, (3) three-dimensional ball and stick models, and (4) combination of the computer molecular models and the ball and stick models. The computer software used in this study wasMolecular Editor. Students in the combination group of using both computer and ball and stick models scored significantly higher on the retention test of isomeric identification compared to the other groups. Molecules were represented in this test in the same mode as the instructional representation. However, on a similar two-dimensional post-instructional test of isomeric identification, this group had a significantly lower mean than the other groups; the two-dimensional group had the highest mean. This difference was not observed with the two-dimensional retention test of isomeric identification. When given a two-dimensional test of isomeric construction, no significant difference was found among the group means with either the posttest or the retention test.

Using Laptop Computers to Improve the Performance of Minority Students: A Pilot Project

A school system and a university joined forces to improve the science and mathematics environment for local minority students with a program that utilized computer technology. The initiative involved individual students from all of the high schools in the Winston–Salem/Forsyth County (North Carolina) School System. In this initiative, Wake Forest University operated a two-week Summer Science and Math Experience for minority students. During the two weeks, students worked intensively with computers and, at the end of the summer program, a laptop computer was loaned to each student for personal use during the of school year. Through interviews and questionnaires, students overwhelmingly endorsed their involvement in the computer-oriented project, both the summer and academic year phases. They especially liked having access to the Internet (provided by the project), being able to use e-mail and chat rooms, and utilizing the information retrieval potential. Parents and teachers surveyed also praised the project, feeling that their students learned more as a result of being involved in project activity.

Education on Aging: A Societal Need

M. Colleen McNamara Paul B. Hounshell Colleen McNamara is an instructor at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, 1912 Club Blvd., Durham, NC 27705. Until August, 1986, she was a senior member of a research team and taught in the Pediatrics and Neurobiology Depts. at the Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She earned her B.S. in Biology and Chemistry and her M.S. in Physiology at the Univ. of New Mexico and her Ph.D. in Neurobiology at the Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Paul B. Hounshell is a professor in the School of Education at the Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27514. A former public school science teacher, Hounshell supervised the K-12 science programs for six years in two large school systems. He has also taught curriculum courses and a variety of science education courses at the college level. Hounshell earned his B.S. and M.Ed. in Science Education/Chemistry from the Univ. of Virginia where he later earned his D.Ed. in Science Education. He has written several published books and articles.