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Presents a mystery based on the well-known characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Emphasizes qualitative inorganic analysis, laboratory observations, and oxidation-reduction processes. (Author/YDS)

Examines 9th grade students' explanations of chemical reactions using two forms of open-ended essay questions, those providing students with key terms to be used as "anchors" on which to base their essay, and those that do not provide terms. Results indicate that more misunderstandings were elicited by the use of key terms as compared to the non-use of key terms. (Author/SOE)

Uses a two-tier, multiple-choice diagnostic instrument to determine (n=915) grade 10 students' understanding of the acid, base, and salt reactions involved in basic qualitative analysis. Reports that many students did not understand the formation of precipitates and the complex salts, acid/salt-base reactions, and thermal decomposition involved in qualitative analysis. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/YDS)

Carries out a naturalistic small-scale study involving a class from a senior high school in Spain over two years. Analyzes students' essays on chemical change using text analysis techniques. Reports the development of four conceptual profiles and the implications of research for the process of teaching the concept of chemical change. (Author/KHR)

Recommends using educational technology to present images of chemical reactions to students instead of doing time-consuming live demonstrations. Uses a VCR to show hazardous chemical reactions, give instructions to organize students into groups, think about data, draw conclusions, and design an experiment. Reports that the quality of learning from videos compares with that of live demonstration-discussion presentations and improves student performance. (Author/NB)

Describes the development and application of a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic instrument to assess high school students' understanding of inorganic chemistry qualitative analysis. Shows that the Grade 10 students had difficulty understanding the reactions involved in the identification of cations and anions, for example, double decomposition reactions, the formation and reaction of complex salts, and thermal decomposition. (Author/MM)

Presents the Chem-E-Car competition in which students build a small car powered by a chemical reaction. Focuses on a controlled chemical reaction in which the car travels a required specific distance and stops. Requires participants to prepare poster presentations. (YDS)

Focuses on the idea of chemical change and reports data from a study exploring the development of the concept of substance in children aged 11-14. Examines the use of the idea of elements, compounds, and bonding between atoms to explain chemical change and the intersection of these ideas with "basic" particle ideas. (Contains 21 references.) (Author/YDS)

Explores the development over time of students' understandings of the concept of chemical reaction in the context of two familiar reactions in solution. Based on interviews (n=48), results show that students made some progress in their understanding of the concept of chemical reaction but some fundamental misconceptions remained. (Author/MM)

Explores how well chemistry graduates preparing for teaching can recognize the similarities and differences between the uses of the word "equation" in mathematics and in chemistry. Reports that the conservation similarities were much less frequently recognized than those involved in the creation of new entities. (Author/MM)

Based on research on the effect of preinstructional knowledge on students' learning of chemical phenomena, this study explores individual learning processes in an introductory chemistry course. Focuses on four common conceptions about two basic chemistry concepts: changes of substances and the particle model of matter. (Author/SAH)

Reaction stoichiometry calculations have always been difficult for students. Offers the use of a mole ratio flow chart (MRFC) as a logistical sequence of steps that incorporates molar proportions as alternative problem solving techniques to improve student understanding. Indicates that MRFC users performed as well on exam problems covering reaction stoichiometry calculations as students using dimensional analysis. (Contains 34 references.) (Author/ASK)

Reports on a study of Grade 6 students in two French immersion classrooms who learned how to talk about chemical reactions. Results show that these students were able to improve how they "talk science" by appropriating certain characteristics of scientific discourse. (Author/VWL)

Investigates the effects of both computer animations of microscopic chemical processes occurring in a galvanic cell and conceptual-change instruction based on chemical demonstrations on students' conceptions of current flow in electrolyte solutions. Finds that conceptual change instruction was effective at dispelling student misconceptions but computer animations did not appear to affect student test responses. (Contains 36 references.) (Author/WRM)

Uses panels taken from manga, Japanese comics and cartoons, to supplement explanations of biochemical terms and topics in biochemistry classes. Results indicate that the use of manga helped students remember what they had learned. (Author/CCM)

Investigates the views of 10 university chemistry lecturers, 85 pre-service chemistry teachers, and 23 chemistry students on the particulate level of a chemical reaction. (Author/CCM)

Reports on a technique for illustrating the dependence of the rate of reaction on the concentration of the reactants and for determining the order of reaction with respect to each reactant, the overall order of reaction, the reaction rate constant, and the half-life. (WRM)

Describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a module called "Energy and the Human Being" within the framework of a program aimed at non-science-oriented students in senior high schools in Israel. Finds that students' attitudes toward science were positive and their understanding of the scientific concepts involved was high after completion of the unit. Contains 18 references. (Author/WRM)

Explores changes in students' (n=250) thinking about basic chemical ideas during a context-based curricular approach. Suggests that 16- to 18-year-old students enter chemistry courses with a wide range of misunderstandings about chemical reactions, but understanding improves steadily as the course progresses. Concludes that even misunderstandings not addressed specifically in the course diminished among students further along in the program. Contains 29 references. (Author/WRM)

Studies aspects of the conceptual reorganization and change of students aged 12-18 (N=40). Describes conceptual change through case studies and students' identifications of chemical reactions. Contains 18 references. (DDR)

Presents results from a study of the conceptions of chemical reactions held by middle school students, high school students, and general chemistry students at the university level. Results suggest that very few students understand what a chemical reaction is. Contains 19 references. (DDR)

Describes an empirical study concerning the introduction of the concept of chemical equilibrium in chemistry classrooms in a way which challenges students' initial conceptions of chemical reactions. Contains 23 references. (DDR)

Investigates students' ideas, conceptions, and misconceptions about acids and alkalis before and after a teaching sequence in a small-scale research project. Concludes that student understanding of acids and alkalis is lacking. (DDR)

Fourth-year university students (n=12) in a secondary-science-education degree program in Singapore were interviewed after demonstrations of five familiar chemical reactions. The majority of interviewees used perceptually-dominated rather than conceptually-dominated thinking and were unable to use scientific concepts consistently across the five reactions. Explores reasons and remedies for the students' lack of scientific thinking ability. Contains 50 references. (Author/WRM)

Reports on a study that constructs a Lakatosian teaching strategy that can facilitate conceptual change in students' understanding of chemical equilibrium. Results indicate that the experimental group performed better on tests. Contains 81 references. (DDR)

Argues that there are only a few cases in which solubility and Ksp are related in a simple way. States that illustrations of the solubility product principle for one-to-one salts are adequate for students. Contains 23 references. (DDR)

Examines the effect of the manipulation of logical structure as well as the specific mental demand of general chemistry problems on student performance. Studies the relationship between student performance on these problems and a number of cognitive variables. Contains 96 references. (DDR)

Describes a biological research project that identifies and characterizes genes and gene products involved in the cell cycle using the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. (DDR)

Reports on a study of 14-15 year old students' ideas about combustion. Describes patterns of students' explanations across a range of questions and analyzes them to gain insight into both the degree of consistency of their explanations and how this may affect the process of conceptual change in the students. (Contains 35 references.) (Author/YDS)

Describes interfacing a hand-held oxygen probe with a microcomputer and suggests experiments for undergraduate chemistry courses that could facilitate student understanding of aquatic environmental processes which involve dissolved oxygen. Data can be analyzed through the program or exported into other software. Presents results of an experiment to detect light/dark cycles in photosynthesis by Anacharis. (Author/AIM)

Presents results of intensive clinical interviews with 11 high school chemistry students representing a broad range of achievement levels as selected from 180 students who completed a written test upon completion of an instructional unit on chemical change. Results indicate that students commonly experience difficulties in chemical knowledge, conservation reasoning, and explanatory competence. (16 references) (JJK)

Explained and presented is a short GW/BASIC computer program that uses an iterative algorithm for the automatic calculation of equilibrium concentrations for an arbitrary number of reactants and products within a chemical reaction. (JJK)

Twenty science experiments are presented. Topics include recombinant DNA, physiology, nucleophiles, reactivity series, molar volume of gases, spreadsheets in chemistry, hydrogen bonding, composite materials, radioactive decay, magnetism, speed, charged particles, compression waves, heat transfer, Ursa Major, balloons, current, and expansion of water. (KR)

Described are the problems caused by the increased concentration of ozone in the lower atmosphere. Photochemical pollution, mechanisms of ozone production, ozone levels in the troposphere, effects of ozone on human health and vegetation, ozone standards, and control measures are discussed. (KR)

The outline for a unit on the chemistry of fitness and nutrition is presented. Topics discussed include the organic basis of life, functional groups, kitchen experiments, micronutrients, energetics, fitness vs. fatness, current topics, and evaluation. This unit reviews the basic concepts of chemical bonding, acid-base chemistry, stoichiometry, and thermodynamics. (KR)

Demonstrations to help students change their misconceptions about chemical bond breaking are presented. Students' misconceptions about chemical bonds in both biological and chemical systems are discussed. A calculation for the release of energy from respiration is presented. (KR)

A set of educational materials that have been developed which deal with chemical engineering applications in emerging technologies is described. The organization and the content of the supplemental textbook materials and how they can be integrated into an undergraduate reaction engineering course are discussed. (KR)

Demonstrations that can be used to lead students to wonder and write about basic scientific principles are presented. Each demonstration includes the concept demonstrated, a list of materials, and procedures. Concepts include density and temperature of liquids, contracting matter with heat, atmospheric pressure, dramatic color changes, fireproof paper, magnetism, tactile properties, and surface tension. (KR)

Energy problems that incorporate power generation in hydroelectric, fossil-fuel burning, and nuclear power stations are presented. The burning process and the energy released are discussed. Practice problems and solutions, a summary of various energy units and conversion factors, and lists of thought-provoking energies and powers are included. (KR)

Described is the application of microcomputers to predict reaction rates based on theoretical atomic and molecular properties taught in undergraduate physical chemistry. Listed is the BASIC program which computes the partition functions for any specific bimolecular reactants. These functions are then used to calculate the pre-exponential factor of the Arrhenius equation. (nine references) (JJK)

A quantitative laboratory exercise based upon the procedures copper manufacturers employ to increase copper production is described. The role of chemoautotrophic microorganisms in biogeologic process is emphasized. Safety considerations when working with bacteria are included. (KR)

The idea that errors and misconceptions in biology textbooks are often slow to be discovered and corrected is discussed. Selected errors, misconceptions, and topics of confusion about cell metabolism are described. Fermentation, respiration, Krebs cycle, pentose phosphate pathway, uniformity of catabolism, and metabolic pathways as models are included. (KR)

Some of the persistent misinformation offered to secondary students while studying chemistry is discussed. A few cases where plausibility, knowingly or otherwise, has been offered to students instead of the accurate explanation are described. Concepts of charge, current, the mole, amount, rates, activation energy, sign convention in voltaic cells, and discharge of chloride ion are included in discussion. (KR)

A survey of adults that shows considerable misunderstanding of two major ideas--that there is no energy in fuels and burning involves two stages--is discussed. Proposed are fundamental changes in the way ideas about burning are introduced to children. (KR)

The teaching of physics principles by drawing examples from African students' surroundings in a cross-cultural environment is discussed. The concepts of pressure, center of gravity, and the action of salt on melting are described using examples that Nigerien students would understand. (KR)

Written test was developed and administered to diagnose misconceptions in different areas of chemical equilibrium among 162 undergraduate chemistry students and 69 teachers of chemistry. Responses reveal widespread misconceptions among students and teachers in areas related to the prediction of equilibrium conditions, rate and equilibrium, applying equilibrium principles to daily life, and to acid-base and ionic solutions in water. (Author)

Identifies and describes the problems students have with the concept of neutralization. Analysis of over 7,500 students' answers to test questions over neutralization showed that many students understand the concept in its original meaning. Students assumed that in any neutralization reaction a neutral solution is formed, even if a weak acid or base takes part in the reaction. (Author/KR)

Described is a solar science activity designed to show students how light energy can be directed to produce visible chemical changes by making sunprints. Included are the materials, procedure, and safety considerations. (KR)

Information about the biosynthesis of the carbohydrate portions or glycans of glycoproteins is presented. The teaching of glycosylation can be used to develop and emphasize many general aspects of biosynthesis, in addition to explaining specific biochemical and molecular biological features associated with producing the oligosaccharide portions of glycoproteins. (KR)

Presented are 25 science activities on colorations of prey, evolution, blood, physiology, nutrition, enzyme kinetics, leaf pigments, analytical chemistry, milk, proteins, fermentation, surface effects of liquids, magnetism, drug synthesis, solvents, wintergreen synthesis, chemical reactions, multicore cables, diffraction, air resistance, electroscope, and gas thermometers. (KR)