Co-Principal Investigator: Philip DeShong

Purpose: One proposed avenue for improving both student understanding and achievement in science emphasizes the use of computer-based curriculum activities in the science classroom. At all levels, chemistry deals with concepts and phenomena that are not directly observable to students. Therefore, instructors often encourage students to engage in visualization of mental images for learning and problem solving in chemistry. Visualization is difficult and complex, and educational software designers have promoted the use of technology to address students' difficulty with visualizations in chemistry. To that end, the researchers will develop a curriculum, Connected Chemistry, which makes central use of computer-based visualization tools.

Project Activities: The researchers propose to develop a curriculum, Connected Chemistry, using computer-based visualization tools following an iterative design process. The curriculum will use NetLogo simulations and Adobe Creative animations to guide students through linking reactions seen at the submicro-level to their everyday experience at the macro-level. A pilot study exploring the promise of this curriculum to improve student outcomes in chemistry will be carried out in the final year of the project.

Products: The products of this project include a fully developed Connected Chemistry curriculum and published reports.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The setting for this study includes high schools in Maryland located in a low socioeconomic status, urban-fringe community, and in Chicago.

Population: The sample includes 12 high schools with at least 20 chemistry teachers, 40 classrooms and 1,268 students. Approximately 74% of the students in the schools are African-American, and 48% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Intervention: The Connected Chemistry curriculum will focus on 10 chemistry units: (1) Particulate nature of matter; (2) Acid-Base chemistry; (3) Chemical equilibrium; (4) Stoichiometry; (5) Pressure; (6) Gas laws; (7) Solubility; (8) Kinetics; (9) Thermodynamics; and (10) Nuclear processes. Each Connected Chemistry unit consists of three modules (Laboratory/Demonstration; Simulation; Discussion) that students can complete in three to five 40-minute sessions. In the Laboratory/Demonstration module, students perform a standard laboratory experiment or teachers may demonstrate the experiment. In the Simulation module, pairs of students explore a simulation to understand the nature of the sub-microscopic interactions that are responsible for the macro-level events observed in the laboratory. In the Discussion model, the teacher leads students through a synthesis of their observations to discuss the conceptual underpinnings that link the sub-microscopic interactions with their macro-level observations. Connected Chemistry is not meant to replace or supplant the role of the teacher, but instead relies on the teacher to connect the three modules and help facilitate student learning. Teacher professional development materials with each activity will help teachers draw connections between each module, emphasize important chemistry concepts, and assess student understanding.

Research Design and Methods: The researchers will use a work-circle approach for the development and testing of the chemistry units and supporting materials. First, a small group of five students, randomly selected from the population of chemistry students at partner high schools, will test the usability of each chemistry simulation module. The researchers will observe individual students complete each module to identify sources of confusion, problems with the computer interface, and clarity of the activity. Researchers will also probe students' learning by questioning each student and their understanding before, during, and after each activity. Second, the teacher participants will complete Connected Chemistry activities in their classrooms on two separate occasions. During each implementation, the researchers will visit the classrooms and observe the activity in use. Data collected from the classroom implementation will be used to revise the units and activities. Finally, to assess the promise of the Connected Chemistry curriculum, five high school chemistry teachers and their students will participate in the pilot study. Two of the teachers' chemistry classes will be randomly assigned to the Connected Chemistry condition, and two will be assigned to the business-as-usual control condition. Students will complete pre- and post-test measures at the beginning and end of the school year, and after each Connected Chemistry unit.

Control Condition: To assess the promise of the Connected Chemistry curriculum, students in control classrooms will receive business-as-usual, textbook-centered chemistry instruction.

Key Measures: The key measures for the project include classroom observations, embedded assessments within each chemistry unit, researcher developed pre- and post-test achievement measures, and the American Chemical Society (ACS) High School Chemistry exam.

Data Analytic Strategy: Analysis of covariance models focusing on pre-to-post gain scores with several post-hoc analyses will be conducted to analyze learning outcomes from this pilot study.

Products and Publications

Book chapter

Stieff, M., and Ryan, S. (2016). Desgining the Connected Chemistry Curriulum. Design as Scholarship: Case Studies from the Learning Sciences (pp. 100–114).

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Stieff, M. (2011). Improving Representational Competence Using Multi-Representational Learning Environments. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48 (10): 1137–1158.

Proceeding

Stieff, M. (2011). Fostering Representational Competence Through Argumentation With Multi-Representational Displays. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (pp. 288–295). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.