Chemical education research

Every field of knowledge has two aspects: a practice component, and research into the advancement of the discipline. Chemical education is the same. Chemical education research (CER) aims to evaluate improvements and innovation in practice and also investigate how students learn chemistry. Examples illustrate the scope of CER, with analogies to better well-known examples of research in chemistry.

One recurring theme in chemical education is the improvement of existing laboratory exercises, the development of new laboratory exercises, and the testing of the activities to ensure their scientific validity and robustness, and finally evaluation and feedback to assess the effectiveness of the experiment by students and teaching staff.

Another active area of research is the analysis of curriculum in terms of logical versus psychological progressions of topics order, and trials on better sequences of topics for better outcomes.

have lead to advances in chemistry, with microwave-assisted synthesis, microfluidic devices, and better spectrometers to name just a few. So too, advances in technology have changed the practice of chemical education.

Other CER has examined new uses for mobile phones, using podcasts to enhance lectures, as flashcards, or to access chemistry resources, student-created videos and photo blogs, and other advances in technology.

Yet another area of CER is in the development and validation of these survey instruments.

Research is about collecting proof to support or refute a hypothesis. Chemical education research is no different. Chemical education seeks to improve the learning of chemical science. Chemical education research collects data to evaluate whether a particular course of action is good or bad for learning.

From chemical warfare to peace

Following the horrors of chemical warfare in two World Wars and the Vietnam War (see box), the international community worked to develop an encompassing treaty to prevent the use of chemical weapons. After extensive work, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction came into force in 1997. Commonly known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), it requires member states to declare and destroy chemical weapons and provides for inspection of facilities and investigation into alleged use. The CWC has been ratified by 190 countries and is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare (OPCW). In 2013, the OPCW won the Nobel Peace prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons". Notable in the official announcement is the reminder that neither the US nor Russia met the 2012 deadline for destruction of their stockpiles of chemical weapons, although both have made significant progress. In July 2005, an invitational joint International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)/OPCW Conference concluded that for the work of OPCW to succeed and be sustainable, engagement in formal educational contexts and public outreach was needed. To this end, the Multiple Uses of Chemicals website

Non-formal education: Scouting, schooling and teacher training

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Summer is a good time for informal education

Students look forward to summer because usually it means a break from formal and non-formal education. Formal education refers to education in formal educational institutions, such as pre-schools, primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions and other registered training organisations. Non-formal education refers to organised educational activity outside the established formal system, that is intended to deliver a defined set of learning objectives to an identifiable group of learners (Chemistry in Australia, October 2014, page 33). Informal education refers to all learning outside the formal non-formal educational system; informal education is often associated with life-long learning as it can include reading non-fiction books and scholarly articles, viewing documentaries and other informal professional development. Informal education can also include travel to other countries and climates. Social constructivist theory maintains that learning occurs in social settings; conversely, most learners are limited by their cultural experiences. For example, Australian students have little first-hand experience of sublimation, but this is commonly observed in very cold climates when frost, ice or snow apparently “disappears” as it sublimes to water vapour, without passing through the liquid state. A favourite summertime activity is to go to the movies, especially in air-conditioned cinemas on a hot day or night. Watching movies are a form of virtual travel, and many educators make use of movies to illustrate chemistry concepts. Some movie producers want a sense of authenticity and work hard to get the details right, even though those details might be incidental to the main plot. For example, in Centurion, Roman soldiers fail in their rescue attempt, and are taunted by the Picts for stupidity -- they would have succeeded if they had only realised that metal become brittle in the cold. Another favourite example comes from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, when Bilbo, Samwise and Gollum are crossing the Dead Marshes and see lights that appear to float over the Marshes. These wills-o-the-wisp have been known for centuries, and was the subject of a debate between George Washington and his officers. Washington and Thomas Paine, “the Father of the American Revolution”, believed that the lights were due to a flammable gas released from the marsh, while Washington’s officers believed that the lights were due to a flammable liquid on the surface of the marsh. On Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November, 1783, the Washington-Paine experiment showed that when mud at the bottom of a river was disturbed, bubbles of flammable gas rose to the surface of the water. (Unknown to Washington and Paine, Alessandro Volta had performed a similar experiment in 1776.) A problem with informal education is that it is often unguided. Students may find it difficult to discern the difference between scientific reality and an artistic distortion of reality in novels and movies. Educators have an important role here. If we only teach facts and concepts, learners will be dependent on a teacher. If however, we foster students’ curiosity and ability to exercise judgement, they will be able to learn for themselves, not just during the summer, but also in every season of every year.

Pseudoscience in the science curriculum

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Learning from the MOOCs model

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The Australian journal of education in chemistry

The article traces the history of the "Australian Journal of Education in Chemistry". The journal, which was founded in 1978, is the only refereed periodical that is wholly owned by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). It is designed to improve the quality of chemistry teaching and learning in Australia. It was initially called "Chemeda: The Newsletter of the Chemical Education Division RACI". Overview of some article published in the journal is presented.

The underlying assumption in chemistry education

The underlying assumption in chemistry education is that chemistry is real, distinct discipline, clearly differentiable from other sciences. Chemistry is the study of matter and its interactions with other matter and with energy, but the aspects which distinguish chemistry are: macroscopic observations and descriptions of properties and change; understanding in terms of atoms and molecules; abstract representations to describe and communicate chemical concepts; and occupational health and safety. These aspects are not unique to chemistry, but their combination make chemistry unique. Over the last three years, there have been major reviews of school science education through the formulation of the Australian National Curriculum and of undergraduate education through the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Project. In both cases, individual RACI members and chemistry professionals, including school teachers, and RACI working party and workshop, have articulated the unique nature of chemistry and the need for chemistry education as a separate subject.

The Chemistry Discipline Network: One Year On

The Chemistry Discipline Network was funded in mid-2011, with the aim of improving communication between chemistry academics in Australia. In our first year of operation, we have grown to over 100 members, established a web presence, and produced substantial mapping reports on chemistry teaching in Australia. We are now working on the definition of standards for a chemistry degree based on the Threshold Learning Outcomes published by the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Project.

New light from an old reagent: chemiluminescence from the reaction of potassium permanganate with sodium borohydride

When aqueous sodium borohydride (50 mM) is added to a solution of potassium permanganate (1mM, in sodium hexametaphosphate) at acidic pH, bright red-orange emission is easily visible in a darkened room. This chemiluminescence emission is due to an excited state of manganese (II) that undergoes solution phase phosphorescence and provides an excellent opportunity for students to explore the relationship between the initial oxidation state of the manganese and the likelihood of luminescence. Not surprisingly Mn(VII), Mn(IV) and Mn(III) all give rise to chemiluminescence where as Mn(II) fails to react.