The purpose of "practical work" in chemistry lessons as perceived by teachers varies and does not always correspond with an emphasis on procedural learning. Teachers project various objectives in them. These activities have various characteristics and potential. The goal of this study is to find out the set of characteristics of…

This study aimed to examine the effect of three teaching approaches: The traditional teaching method, Teacher based demonstration experiment (TBDE), and the Student hands-on experiment (SHE), on students' conceptual understanding of solutions and titration. The data were collected using a chemistry achievement test (CAT) comprising of 30…

An active-learning approach was employed in a project for our chemistry major students on the synthesis of biodiesel (BD) from an Amazon region oil. The project, involving activities in class and in the laboratory, was given during 8 weeks of the spring semester of 2022. The students were asked about their previous contact with the synthesis and…

We have developed a guided-inquiry laboratory exercise in which students perform viscosity measurements to infer the structure of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in aqueous solution. The activity combines both experiments and modeling. In the experimental portion of the exercise, students measure the viscosity of several solutions of PVA with differing…

Electrochemistry is taught in most undergraduate chemistry programs. Although this topic is important for students due to its broad interest in industry (energy, diagnostics, car industry, etc.), they often find it difficult, because it is based on a combination of various physical concepts such as electric fields, interfacial processes or charge…

Experiments serve different purposes in chemistry education ranging from illustrating a certain subject matter to providing data for school-based research projects. When students use these experiments to collect data and draw conclusions, it is important that these experiments are valid. In this study, a new experiment for the determination of the…

The particle-in-a-box experiment is a well-known method used to teach quantum mechanics concepts in physical chemistry laboratories for undergraduates. The investigation involves measuring the wavelength at maximum absorbance ([lambda subscript max]) of electronic transitions in the UV-vis spectrum and linking it to the box length. As the…

The UV--vis absorption of cyanine dyes is a common experiment in many physical chemistry teaching laboratories. As part of the analysis, students are often asked to hypothesize why the predicted absorption differs from the measured values and why dyes which are predicted to have the same absorption have measured values which differ from each…

In school chemistry, the oxyhydrogen or "Knallgas" reaction is used to provide evidence of hydrogen gas in the squeaky pop test. However, the test actually indicates the presence of an explosive gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen (oxyhydrogen gas) rather than pure hydrogen. The sheer observations of an explosive reaction and the…

For the past decade, the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley has iteratively redesigned general chemistry laboratory courses to introduce students to green chemistry concepts, while simultaneously using green chemistry as a relevant context to learn chemistry. To investigate the effectiveness of this curriculum we developed approaches to…

Chemical reasoning, and in particular structure--property reasoning, is an important goal of chemistry education. Johnstone's triangle (1982, 1991) is often used to explicate this type of reasoning. This triangle describes the multilevel thought chemical reasoning requires and shows why students find chemistry so difficult. However, this model…

A didactic sequence is proposed using an infrared puzzle and a didactic questionnaire for the teaching-learning of infrared spectroscopy at the upper secondary level. The didactic sequence that was designed was implemented in person in the subject of Chemistry IV at the high school level, corresponding to the sixth semester of the curriculum of…

Fluorescence-related experimental techniques play an important role in biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology. However, fluorescence-related experiments are rarely included in the laboratory courses of most Chinese universities. This is mainly due to the conflict between large class size (50-60 students in one room) and funding/space…

Undergraduate general chemistry courses are often perceived in a negative light by students. Student attitudes towards chemistry play a significant role in their success in chemistry and retention in STEM altogether. Research has shown in K-12 classrooms that care-based instruction strategies can help to improve student attitudes towards…

We here propose a simple and fast hands-on activity requiring limited equipment, to introduce students of various levels (bachelor's or high school) and backgrounds (from science to arts) to the chemistry of color. The different colors of stained glass are replicated through the deposition, on ordinary glass slides, of silica coatings colored by…