Research on Student Understanding of Solution Phenomena in College Chemistry

化学（12）本项目的目标是建立一个良好的基础和系统的描述，学生在一般化学的原因有关的解决方案使用定性和定量的描述。这项工作的重点是深入研究学生对溶液中化学现象的概念（身份，浓度和反应性），如何使用定性（亚微观，宏观和符号）表示来描述这些概念，以及量化如何帮助或阻碍这些概念和描述。智力优势：当代关于学习的研究表明，有效的教学需要考虑到学生对学习任务的概念，特别是当这些概念与科学界接受的概念有分歧或可能冲突时。 如果不考虑这些概念，就会有两种典型的结果：短暂的、肤浅的学习或根本没有学习。 与此同时，有明确的证据表明，大学生在推理化学系统方面存在重大问题。此外，他们倾向于用算法而不是概念来处理计算和数字，从而将数学程序变成盲目应用的算法。因此，应该连接多种表征的基本概念往往缺乏，学生不太能够设计和进行有目的的调查使用测量。该项目采用Minstrel（1992，2001）在基本物理概念（例如，力和运动、加速度等）透过与一小批不同学生的深入合作，绘制学生对溶液的三种化学现象和四种不同表现形式的概念空间。这项研究是在与芝加哥地区四所大学环境中教授普通化学的教师协商后进行的，其中包括三所社区学院（卡迪金学院、哈罗德华盛顿学院和哈珀学院）。这些机构为传统上在STEM学科中代表性不足的学生群体提供服务。深入的研究奠定了基础，设计一个基于计算机的评估系统，可用于进一步定义在这一领域的学生理解的概念空间，以及提供诊断信息的教师。该项目正在制作这样一个系统的原型。更广泛的影响：化学现象的小面集群预计将对实施有效的教学所需的知识基础产生重大影响，学习和评估的做法，在本科科学与不同的学生群体。 该项目在普通化学领域产生了最重要的初步影响，这是学生在许多不同的STEM职业轨道上取得成功的关键课程，包括许多化学科学以外的领域。在普通化学课程内容的改革中，主要的举措都是在相对较少的具体数据的情况下进行的。这个项目提供了额外的洞察力，当学生遇到包括量化在内的多种表征时，他们会做什么。除了普通化学，这项工作还有望影响其他教学和学习环境，学生必须与定性和定量描述，包括其他化学课程，卫生专业，生命，地球和环境科学。此外，本研究所发现的问题也存在于K-12教育中，使本研究与大学预科科学教育相关。

Chemistry (12)The objective of this project is the construction of a well-grounded and systematic description of how students in general chemistry reason about solutions using qualitative and quantitative descriptions. The work focuses on in-depth studies of students' conceptions of chemical phenomena in solution (identity, concentration, and reactivity), how these are described using qualitative (submicroscopic, macroscopic, and symbolic) representations, and how quantification helps or hinders these conceptions and descriptions. Intellectual Merit: Contemporary research on learning indicates that effective instruction needs to take into account the conceptions that students bring to learning tasks, especially when those conceptions diverge from, and potentially conflict with, conceptions accepted by the scientific community. When these conceptions are not taken into account, there are two typical results: fleeting, superficial learning or little learning at all. At the same time, there is clear evidence that college students have significant problems reasoning about chemical systems. Furthermore, they tend to treat calculations and numbers algorithmically rather than conceptually, thus turning mathematical procedures into blindly-applied algorithms. As a result, underlying concepts that ought to link multiple representations are frequently absent and students are less able to design and carry through on purposeful investigations using measurement. The project adapts the Facets cluster approach that Minstrell (1992, 2001) developed in the context of basic physics concepts (e.g., forces and motion, acceleration, etc.) to map the space of students' conceptions related to the three chemical phenomena of solutions and the four different forms of representation through in-depth work with a small but diverse group of students. The research is being done in consultation with faculty who teach general chemistry in four college environments in the Chicago area, including three community colleges (Kennedy-King College, Harold Washington College, and Harper College). These institutions serve student populations that are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM disciplines. The in-depth studies lay the groundwork for the design of a computer-based assessment system that could be used to further define the conceptual space of student understanding in this domain as well as provide diagnostic information to instructors. This project is producing a prototype of such a system. Broader Impacts: Facet clusters for chemical phenomena are expected to have significant impacts on the knowledge base required for implementing effective teaching, learning and assessment practices in undergraduate science with diverse student populations. The project is having its most significant initial impact in general chemistry, a key course for the success of students in many different STEM career tracks, including many outside the chemical sciences. Major initiatives in the reform of general chemistry course content have proceeded with relatively little specific data about student reasoning using numerical information. This project is providing additional insight into what students do when they encounter multiple representations including quantification. Beyond general chemistry the work also is expected to impact other teaching and learning environments where students must work with qualitative and quantitative descriptions, including other chemistry courses, health professions, life, earth, and environmental sciences. In addition, the problems being studied also are found in K-12 education, making this research relevant to pre-college science education.