An introduction to the noble gases and chemical bonding via Lewis theory and the octet rule are common inclusions in secondary school curricula. However, the usual approach may lead to misconceptions and difficulties when valence bond (VB) theory and valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory are taught at a later pre-university stage.…

This paper is a case study that reports on findings from a design-based research with the purpose of helping secondary school chemistry students in an all-girls school develop the ability to construct scientific explanations--an important literacy skill in learning science. A series of lessons on the topic of chemical bonding was designed to…

This "Science Note" presents a study by Christopher Talbot and Lydia Yap, who teach IB Chemistry at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Republic of Singapore, to pre-university students. Pre-university students may postulate the correlation between the magnitude of the lattice enthalpy compound and its melting point, since both…

Nanotechnology is having an increasing impact on university curricula in electrical engineering and in physics. Major influencers affecting developments in university programmes related to nanoelectronics are discussed and a model for university programme development is described. The model takes into account that nanotechnology affects not only…

The results from a study to explore pre-service teachers' understanding of ionization energy, a topic that features in A-level (grade 11 and 12) chemistry courses. in Singapore , is described. A previous study using a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic test has shown that Singapore A-level students have considerable difficulty understanding the…

This paper describes the analysis of two commonly used high school (Grades 11 and 12) chemistry textbooks in Singapore to determine if the content presented in the topic of intermolecular forces is consistent with the concepts and propositional knowledge identified by the authors as essential for the learning and understanding of the topic…