In a normal year approximately 3 months pass between students taking their final examinations in high school or college and beginning an undergraduate course in chemistry. In the months prior to those examinations, students will usually have undertaken an extensive period of revision and consolidation of the key concepts learned throughout their…

The metaphors used by teachers to explain the nature of student learning and student difficulty can reveal a great deal about how teachers conceive the teaching and learning process. This is an important area of research as it can shed light on how they see their role in the learning process and how they should intervene to assist students in…

Much research has identified organic chemistry as an area of difficulty for learners. There is also much literature pertaining to the factors that contribute to learners' difficulties. This paper explores the intersections of teachers' and learners' perceptions of teaching and learning organic chemistry respectively. Understanding these nuances…

This dissertation was a comparative study of computer science in secondary schools in both Ireland and the United States. Computer science was a new subject compared to more established subjects in both Ireland and the United States. This dissertation looked at how this subject could be accessed by students in both countries. I used a document…

The "Organic Chemistry in Action!" ("OCIA!") program is a set of teaching resources designed to facilitate the teaching and learning of introductory level organic chemistry. The "OCIA!" program was developed in collaboration with practicing and experienced chemistry teachers, using findings from Chemistry Education…

This article uses an existing evaluation framework to exemplify how an organic chemistry program for high school teachers facilitated their professional development. Chemistry teachers from 6 different high schools participated in the program. The professional development program was informed by a constructivist theoretical background in which…

The main areas of difficulty experienced by those teaching and learning organic chemistry at high school and introductory university level in Ireland have been identified, and the findings support previous studies in Ireland and globally. Using these findings and insights from chemistry education research (CER), the Organic Chemistry in Action!…

When attempting to integrate any Information and Communications Technology (ICT) based resource into Post-Primary Schools (High Schools) many potential barriers must be considered. Importantly, many of these barriers revolve around the individual teacher and hence they are an important starting point in understanding the change process in schools.…

Interest in inquiry-based science education (IBSE) often pays little heed to the complex power relations that exist within classrooms. A common obstacle to inquiry is that it strongly diverges from current classroom culture and hence, is outside the sphere of teachers' and students' experiences. Teachers and students bring expectations to the…

This paper explores the use of a constructivist 21st-century learning model to implement a week-long workshop, delivered as a "hackathon," to encourage preuniversity teenagers to pursue careers in STEM, with a particular emphasis on computer science. For Irish preuniversity students, their experience of computing can vary from word…