Chemistry

Situated in the context of advanced placement (AP) reform in the United States, we investigated profiles of teachers’ motivation for participating in professional development (PD) courses in a two-cohort sample of n_t1 = 2,369 and n_t2 = 2,170 chemistry teachers via multilevel latent class analysis.

Aqueous solutions have proved to be a challenging topic for chemistry students at all levels. An understanding of what is happening at the molecular level in aqueous processes such as dissolution is key to understanding the macroscopic properties of the system as well as to communicating fluently with chemical symbols. In this study, we examined the storyboards of 28 high school students in the United States who participated in a series of lessons employing the VisChem Approach that addressed the topics of liquid water, solid sodium chloride, and finally sodium chloride dissolution in water over the course of a year.

In this report, we present a novel solution to the problem of multiple-criterion-focused selection of research and PD participants when the number of applicants to participate outnumbers the availability of resources.

In this study, we examine the results of high school teacher implementation of the VisChem Approach in four classrooms following an intensive professional development program.

Teacher–teacher feedback is an important feature of professional learning. However, deeply ingrained socio-pedagogical norms may affect both the nature and content of feedback, constraining its effectiveness. Prior studies have reported that avoiding critique and providing excessively generic information can hinder pedagogical inquiry and adoption of reform-based instruction. To better understand the nuances of socio-pedagogical norms for chemistry-specific settings, we investigate the conversational functions and the ways in which teacher–teacher feedback addresses macroscopic, symbolic, and particulate levels of representation within lessons they experienced as students.

Mastery goal structures, which communicate value for developing deeper understanding, are an important classroom support for student motivation and engagement, especially in the context of science learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Prior research has identified key dimensions of goal structures, but a more nuanced examination of the variability of teacher-enacted and student-perceived goal structures within and across classrooms is needed. Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, we developed case studies of how three 7th-grade science teachers enacted different goal structures while teaching the same chemistry unit and how their students perceived these goal structures.

Mastery goal structures, which communicate value for developing deeper understanding, are an important classroom support for student motivation and engagement, especially in the context of science learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Prior research has identified key dimensions of goal structures, but a more nuanced examination of the variability of teacher-enacted and student-perceived goal structures within and across classrooms is needed. Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, we developed case studies of how three 7th-grade science teachers enacted different goal structures while teaching the same chemistry unit and how their students perceived these goal structures.