scholarly journals The production of less harmful and less toxic sparklers in an experiment for school students

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Scheid ◽  
Magdalena Rusan ◽  
Thomas M. Klapötke ◽  
Stefan Schwarzer
Keyword(s):  
Energetic Materials ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Strontium Nitrate ◽  
School Students ◽  
Preparation Methods ◽  
Chemistry Research ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Lower Health ◽  
Upper Secondary Level

Abstract In this article, a new and simple way of producing sparklers is presented as a school experiment. These sparklers are more environmentally friendly and less health threatening than sparklers produced with existing preparation methods. The problem of conventional sparklers is the toxicity of barium nitrate, which is used as the oxidizer. The substitution of this oxidizer with strontium nitrate and also the reduction of the weight proportion makes the new mixture less dangerous and less toxic. Various tests for the categorization of high-energetic materials show that the newly developed sparklers are not classified as explosives. Furthermore, the tests demonstrate that the newly developed sparklers are not as dangerous as commercial sparklers. Due to their lower health risk, these new sparklers are well suited for use in school education. In addition, expenditure for this experiment is low and integrating it into the upper secondary level curriculum is easy. Sparklers are an impressive example of redox reactions from everyday life. The experiment is a best-practice application for chemistry education, incorporating current results of chemistry research.

scholarly journals Chemistry in crisis? Perspectives on teaching and learning chemistry in Swedish upper secondary schools

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Broman ◽  
Margareta Ekborg ◽  
Dan Johnels
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
School Students ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Upper Secondary Level ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

Explanations for a decline in the number of students studying chemistry at advanced level all over the world have been sought for quite some time. Many students do not find chemistry relevant and meaningful and there have been difficulties in developing school chemistry courses that engage students sufficiently and tempt them to further studies in the field. In this study, Swedish upper secondary school students (Ns=372) and their teachers (Nt=18) answered a questionnaire on their experiences of the content and the working methods of their chemistry course. They were also given the opportunity to express ideas on how to make chemistry courses more interesting and meaningful. The results point out some subject areas as both easy and interesting, e.g. atomic structure; while other areas are hard to understand but still interesting, e.g. biochemistry. The students find chemistry lessons teachercentred, something they appreciate. When teachers and students gave suggestions on how to improve the relevance of chemistry education at upper secondary level, more laboratory work and connections to everyday life were the most common proposals. But on the whole, these students seem quite satisfied with their chemistry courses.

scholarly journals Exploratory Considerations in Chemistry Education—Didactic Modelling for Complexity in Students’ Discussions

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Dudas ◽  
Carl-Johan Rundgren ◽  
Iann Lundegård
Keyword(s):  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Education Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Life Issues ◽  
Present Context ◽  
Building Practice

AbstractResearch has shown the importance of dealing with real-life issues and of enabling student encounters with complexity in chemistry education in order to increase student participation. Therefore, this study aims to analyse how complexity evolves in students’ discussions and how this complexity relates to aspects of tentativeness in chemistry. In the study, we analyse how a previously developed didactic model can be refined from the students’ considerations evolving from the present context. The study was conducted as an in situ study in one upper-secondary school. Students’ discussions were recorded on video. The recordings were transcribed and analysed using deliberative educational questions. Two different kinds of considerations emerged in the students’ discussions: factual and exploratory considerations. While factual considerations are an important element of chemistry education, students also need to encounter exploratory considerations. The study proposes a didactic model useful for teachers in didactic analysis and design of activities aiming to support students to unfold complexity through exploratory considerations. One implication is to base activities on real-life issues in order to invite the unpredictability needed for experiencing complexity and the exploratory nature of chemistry. These issues enable students to experience aspects of tentativeness in chemistry and thereby increase their understanding of NOS and chemistry as a knowledge building practice. Furthermore, this might also increase student participation in chemistry education.

scholarly journals Why do upper secondary school students study chemistry – and why they do not?

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Veli- Matti Vesterinen ◽  
Maija Aksela ◽  
Toni Rantaniitty
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
School Students ◽  
University Admission ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Advanced Courses

This study investigated the Finnish upper secondary school students’ opinions on the rationale of chemistry education and their reasons for choosing or not choosing advanced courses in chemistry. In first phase of the research 49 pre-service chemistry teacher students answered open questions about their opinions about the rationale of chemistry education as well as reasons for choosing advanced courses in chemistry in upper secondary school. The same students then interviewed 44 upper secondary students about their opinions on the topic. The survey used for the second phase of the study was based on the content analysis of the answers of chemistry teacher students and the transcriptions of the interviews of upper secondary school students. Four categories of rationales were found in the first phase of the study: (i) everyday life and health, (ii) environmental issues, (iii) general knowledge, and (iv) further studies and working life. Based on the data from the survey (N = 137), further studies and working life related reasons for teaching chemistry were considered most important. The reasons for choosing advanced courses in chemistry were divided in four categories: (i) interest, (ii) self-efficacy, (iii) utility value for university admission, further studies and working life, (iv) influence of parents, peers and teacher. Results indicate that interest in chemistry and utility value for university admission and further studies were the most important reasons for choosing advanced courses in chemistry. Boys and students with good grades in chemistry emphasized self-efficacy significantly more than the others. Girls emphasized utility value for university admission and further studies more than the boys. Influence of parents, peers and teacher was in average considered the least important category of reasons. The main reasons for not choosing advanced courses in chemistry were being more interested in other subjects and not needing chemistry for university admissions. To improve the number of people choosing advanced courses in chemistry, there is a need to improve interest in chemistry – especially as part of general knowledge of every citizen.

scholarly journals ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS OF COMMON SALT HYDROLYSIS AMONG UPPER-SECONDARY-SCHOOL STUDENTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Orwat ◽  
Paweł Bernard ◽  
Anna Migdał-Mikuli
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Inorganic Compounds ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Alternative Conceptions ◽  
Common Salt ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary

Reactions in aqueous solutions are an important part of chemistry education. As experience shows, they are particularly difficult for students to understand. Hydrolysis is one such reaction. It occurs in organic and inorganic compounds with either covalent and ionic structures, but salt hydrolysis is a special example. Salt hydrolysis is complex, and to understand it, students must consider the reaction equilibrium, dissociation process, and acid-base properties of reactants and products. Additionally, in the upper-secondary-school curriculum, hydrolysis is described only qualitatively, which can lead students to misinterpret hydrolysis and solution equilibrium. In this study, 235 upper-secondary-school students answered questions about the acidity of common salt solutions and tried to justify their responses by writing appropriate chemical equations. An analysis of the answers revealed the students’ alternative conceptions and misconceptions. The character of the misconceptions showed that they are school-based and largely caused by excessive simplification of the process as well as the usage of inappropriate analogies. Key words: salt hydrolysis, acids and bases, alternative and misconceptions, chemical education research.

Developing a lesson plan on conventional and green pesticides in chemistry education – a project of participatory action research

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Zowada ◽  
Nadja Frerichs ◽  
Vânia Gomes Zuin ◽  
Ingo Eilks
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Sustainable Chemistry ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
School Students ◽  
Chemistry Research

The debate on the use of pesticides is very current in the public media when it comes to topics such as organic farming, bee mortality, and the use of glyphosate. The broad range of pesticide applications and their potential environmental impact makes pesticides an interesting topic for science education in general and for chemistry teaching in particular. This is particularly true when conventional pesticide use is contrasted with current chemistry research efforts to develop alternatives based on the ideas of green chemistry. This paper discusses the potential relevance of pesticides for chemistry education in connection with education for sustainable development. It gives a brief outlook on pesticides in science teaching and connects the topic to socio-scientific issue-based chemistry education. A case study which developed a lesson plan for secondary school students is presented here. It defines pesticides, before focusing on the development of green pesticides as potential alternatives to current products. The lesson is focusing learning about chemistry rather than learning of chemistry in the means that the lesson introduces quite young chemistry learners (age range 15–17) to ideas of green and sustainable chemistry and how green alternatives in chemistry can be assessed and compared to traditional alternatives. Video vignettes of a scientist are used to introduce the topic to students. Finally, both glyphosate as a conventional, industrial pesticide and orange oil as an example of a green pesticide are compared using spider chart diagrams. The lesson plan was cyclically designed by a group of ten chemistry teachers using participatory action research. It was piloted with the help of secondary school chemistry student teachers and then tested in five German secondary school classes (grades 10/11). The use of the spider charts was regarded as especially helpful by the learners, most of whom felt that they had been able to understand the controversy surrounding pesticides.

scholarly journals THE CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE OF CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM IN UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS: EVIDENCE FROM FACTOR ANALYSIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-92
Author(s):  
Yuhua Mai ◽  
Yangyi Qian ◽  
Linshen Li ◽  
Haihang Lan
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Chemical Equilibrium ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary

This research aimed to explore the conceptual structure of chemical equilibrium in upper-secondary school students using factor analysis. Research on chemistry education has shown that chemical equilibrium is an important but difficult-to-understand topic. Exploring the conceptual structure of chemical equilibrium among students will help chemistry researchers and educators to conduct more targeted teaching practices. Based on a survey of chemistry research and teaching practice experts, a high-quality concept pool composed of 24 relevant concepts was developed. Next, a survey involving a total of over 700 twelfth-grade students from five upper-secondary schools was conducted, and a factor analysis was utilized to determine the conceptual structure. The results showed that a three-factor model and a five-factor model with 15 relevant concepts were all accepted as the conceptual structure for students. The new form of conceptual structure in this research helps understand the features and categories in students’ latent organization of concepts. Also, it may be revealed that factor analysis can be utilized as an approach to exploring students’ conceptual structure. Keywords: chemical equilibrium, chemistry education, conceptual structure, factor analysis

scholarly journals ADAPTING THE SURVEY OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS STATISTICS (SATS-36) FOR ESTONIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 228-239
Author(s):  
CARITA HOMMIK ◽  
PIRET LUIK
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Statistics Education ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Upper Secondary Level

The purpose of this study is to adapt the Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics (SATS-36) for Estonian secondary school students in order to develop a valid instrument to measure students’ attitudes within the Estonian educational context. The SATS-36 was administered to Estonian-speaking secondary school students before their compulsory statistics course. Because the fit indices for confirmatory factor analysis did not indicate a good fit, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to find a new model. It validated a four-factor structure of the scale, excluding nine items. Good indices for both reliability and validity were obtained. Trends in secondary school students’ attitudes were also examined to investigate the effects of gender and gender combined with the level of education. Results showed that students tended to feel rather positively about statistics at the beginning of the course. All four factors displayed differences between boys and girls. Comparison of lower and upper secondary level students showed that students from the upper secondary level value statistics more highly. The authors recommend SATS with some small proposed changes to make it even more suitable for the secondary level. First published May 2017 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives

The Schoolwork Engagement Inventory

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Salmela-Aro ◽  
Katja Upadaya
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Older Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Factor Solution ◽  
Upper Secondary

This study introduces the Schoolwork Engagement Inventory (EDA), which measures energy, dedication, and absorption with respect to schoolwork. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the validity and reliability of the inventory among students attending postcomprehensive schools. A total of 1,530 (769 girls, 761 boys) students from 13 institutions (six upper-secondary and seven vocational schools) completed the EDA 1 year apart. The results showed that a one-factor solution had the most reliability and fitted best among the younger students, whereas a three-factor solution was most reliable and fit best among the older students. In terms of concurrent validity, depressive symptoms and school burnout were inversely related, and self-esteem and academic achievement were positively associated with EDA. Boys and upper-secondary-school students experienced lower levels of schoolwork engagement than girls and vocational-school students.

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