E-Textbooks and the Digital Natives: A Study of First-Year Chemistry Students’ Attitudes toward E-Textbooks

2015 ◽  
pp. 45-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. O. Salami ◽  
E. O. Omiteru
Keyword(s):  
Digital Natives ◽  
First Year ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Students Attitudes

scholarly journals Students’ attitudes, self-efficacy and experiences in a modified process-oriented guided inquiry learning undergraduate chemistry classroom

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 340-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkat Rao Vishnumolakala ◽  
Daniel C. Southam ◽  
David F. Treagust ◽  
Mauro Mocerino ◽  
Sheila Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Inquiry Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Guided Inquiry ◽  
Affective Outcomes ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Undergraduate Chemistry ◽  
Affective Experiences ◽  
Process Oriented ◽  
Students Attitudes

This one-semester, mixed methods study underpinning social cognition and theory of planned behaviour investigated the attitudes, self-efficacy, and experiences of 559 first year undergraduate chemistry students from two cohorts in modified process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) classes. Versions of attitude toward the study of chemistry (ASCI v2), and chemistry attitudes and experiences questionnaire (CAEQ) were adopted, modified, and administered to understand and gauge students’ affective outcomes before (pre) and after (post) POGIL intervention. Students’ post-POGIL perceptions of their attitudes, self-efficacy and experiences were statistically significantly higher. In addition to confirmatory testing of reliability of data obtained from ASCI v2 and CAEQ in an Australian POGIL context, the findings suggest that POGIL intervention provides positive affective experiences to students who are new to chemistry or have limited prior chemistry knowledge.

How well does A-level Mathematics prepare students for the mathematical demands of chemistry degrees?

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1190-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie Darlington ◽  
Jessica Bowyer
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Undergraduate Chemistry ◽  
Undergraduate Study ◽  
Pure Mathematics ◽  
Entry Requirements ◽  
Good Preparation

332 undergraduate chemistry students were surveyed in order to establish whether they had found A-level Mathematics and/or Further Mathematics to be good preparation for their degree. Perceptions of both subjects were found to be positive, with more than 80% of participants describing Mathematics or Further Mathematics as good preparation. In particular, pure mathematics and mechanics topics were found to be the most useful. Additionally, over 90% of participants who had studied at least AS-level Further Mathematics reported that there was an overlap between the material they encountered at A-level and in the first year of undergraduate study. This indicates that prospective undergraduate chemists would significantly benefit from studying A-level Mathematics, and in particular may benefit from specialising in the study of mechanics, something which will only be possible through the study of Further Mathematics after qualifications are reformed in September 2017. Universities should consequently consider revising their entry requirements or recommendations to applicants.

scholarly journals Visualizing molecular structures and shapes: a comparison of virtual reality, computer simulation, and traditional modeling

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina E. Brown ◽  
Ben Whaley ◽  
Richard M. Hyslop
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Molecular Geometry ◽  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Students Attitudes

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of three methods used to assist in teaching molecular geometry to college chemistry students. A pre- and post-test quasi-experiment was used to collect data about students’ performance in a given chemistry exercise. One research question was intended to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the three methods in assisting students to understand the topic and carry out the exercise correctly, and a second research question addressed students’ attitudes towards the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in chemistry education. Results show a positive attitude towards the use of VR as an assisting tool to aid in understanding chemistry concepts. While the difference among the three methods was not significant, the results show that the VR brought more enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward the topic of molecular geometry among the students. Educational implications and recommendations for future research are presented as well.

First-Year Medical Students?? Attitudes toward Radiology

1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
A E SCHLESINGER ◽  
C E BLANE ◽  
K H VYDARENY
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
First Year Medical Students

scholarly journals Native or Novice?

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Donna M. Velliaris ◽  
Paul Breen
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Lifelong Learners ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Return Home ◽  
Information Landscape

Access to and use of technology by students deemed to be ‘Digital Natives' studying in the Higher Education (HE) sector has been an area of much interest, speculation and publication. This chapter reports on a small-scale exploratory study that aimed to uncover the digital technology access and practices in both everyday life and academic study of ‘new' international first-year ‘pathway' students at the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT). The purpose of this study was to contribute to the debate on digital natives by providing a ‘piece of evidence' on the access to and use of digital technologies by a group of pre-university pathway students. This exploratory study stemmed from the realisation that EIBT lecturers could better meet the needs of the current generation and cohort of 20+ ethnically diverse students, and help them acculturate and transition as lifelong learners who are able to adapt to an evolving information landscape in Australian HE and upon their return home.

scholarly journals Breaking the Binary

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Mercer-Mapstone ◽  
Sarah Bajan ◽  
Kasia Banas ◽  
Arthur Morphett ◽  
Kristine McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Minority Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Student Cohorts ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Partnership Approach

The need to make higher education curricula gender-inclusive is increasingly pressing as student cohorts diversify. We adopted a student-staff partnership approach to design, integrate, and evaluate a module that taught first-year science students the difference between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in the context of genetics concepts at an Australian university. This module aimed to break the binary in misconceptions of both sex and gender, emphasising that both exist on separate spectra. Data triangulation was used to evaluate students’ attitudes towards the module and their learning of module concepts. Students’ attitudes were positive overall, and evaluation of students’ learning indicated that the majority of students understood and retained key concepts, while also identifying common misconceptions. Perhaps the most important finding was that students who identified as belonging to a minority group had significantly more positive attitudes towards the module than non-minority students. This finding supports previous research that has found inclusive curricula have greater benefit for students from minority backgrounds, indicating the importance of making such curriculum enhancements. Our results speak to both the co-creation process and students’ learning outcomes, providing valuable insights for practitioners both within science and beyond.

Using a Virtual Learning Environment to Promote Autonomous Language Learning for Chinese Students

2013 ◽  
pp. 140-158
Author(s):  
Eoin Jordan ◽  
Mark Coyle
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Study Skills ◽  
English Language ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Self Study ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Students Attitudes

This chapter examines a semester-long Moodle-based programme of monitored quizzes designed to encourage first-year Chinese students at an English medium university in China to engage in English language self-study and autonomous learning. Usage statistics and questionnaire data were collected and analysed in order to investigate overall quiz participation rates, usage patterns across the semester, and the extent to which the programme affected students’ attitudes towards self-study. The results indicated that participation rates in the quizzes were high, although activity on the programme pages did decline as the semester progressed. Students also reported via the questionnaire that the programme had helped them learn how to organise their own self-study. However, statistics from Moodle revealed that many participants were not taking the quizzes on a regular, weekly basis, as had been intended, suggesting that the programme may have only been partially successful in fostering autonomous study skills.

Working with mental models to learn and visualize a new reaction mechanism

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 554-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Bongers ◽  
Georg Northoff ◽  
Alison B. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Mechanism ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Reaction Mechanisms ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
First Year ◽  
Molecular Processes ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Epoxide Opening ◽  
Novices And Experts

Creating and using models are essential skills in chemistry. Novices and experts alike rely on conceptual models to build their own personal mental models for predicting and explaining molecular processes. There is evidence that chemistry students lack rich mental models of the molecular level; their mental models of reaction mechanisms have often been described as static and not process-oriented. Our goal in this study was to characterize the various mental models students may have when learning a new reaction mechanism and to explore how they use them in different situations. We explored the characteristics of first year organic chemistry students’ (N = 7) mental models of epoxide-opening reaction mechanisms by qualitative analysis of transcripts and written answers following an audio-recorded interview discussion. We discovered that individual learners relied on a combination of both static (with a focus on symbolism and patterns) and dynamic (reactivity as process or as particles in motion) working mental models, and that different working mental models were used depending on the task. Static working mental models were typically used to reason generally about the reaction mechanism and products that the participants provided. Dynamic working mental models were commonly used when participants were prompted to describe how they pictured the reaction happening, and in attempting to describe the structure of a transition state. Implications for research, teaching, and learning from these findings are described herein.

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