"Chemical-Free" Foods: An Investigation of Student's Definitions of a Chemical

Nicoll, Gayle

doi:10.1021/ed074p455

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Thus, when making or supporting choices in their personal and social lives, individuals are likely to be negatively biased toward chemical products and ignore any evidence that contradicts their emotions. These attitudes and beliefs have been elicited in the reasoning of people from elementary school to college . Recognizing and working with these issues is of critical importance in both formal and informal chemistry education if we aspire to build a more chemically literate society.…”

Section: Affective Judgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemistry Education: Ten Heuristics To Tame

Talanquer

2014

J. Chem. Educ.

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Students in our chemistry classes often generate shallow responses to our questions and problems. They fail to recognize relevant cues in making judgments and decisions about the properties of chemical substances and processes, and make hasty generalizations that frequently lead them astray. Results from research in the psychology of decision making can help us better understand how students approach chemistry tasks under conditions of limited knowledge, time, or motivation. In this contribution, I describe 10 cognitive heuristics that are often responsible for biases in student thinking. Helping students tame these heuristics may allow us to foster more meaningful learning in chemistry classrooms.

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Section: Affective Judgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These attitudes and beliefs have been elicited in the reasoning of people from elementary school 60 to college. 61 Recognizing and working with these issues is of critical importance in both formal and informal chemistry education if we aspire to build a more chemically literate society.…”

Section: Affectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemistry Education: Ten Heuristics To Tame

Talanquer

2014

J. Chem. Educ.

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“…This was indicated explicitly by only 4 of the 235 student responses, but it may have implicitly affected a greater number. For example, a study with university chemistry students (Nicoll, 1997) indicated that students often have alternative interpretations of the word ''chemical'' (e.g., chemicals are unhealthy substances).…”

Section: Student Use Of Combustion Rulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Combustion always produces carbon dioxide and water”: a discussion of university chemistry students' use of rules in place of principles

Robertson

Shaffer

2014

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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On the basis of responses to written questions administered to more than one thousand introductory chemistry students, we claim that students often rotely apply memorized combustion rules instead of reasoning based on explanatory models for what happens at the molecular level during chemical reactions. In particular, many students argue that combustion produces carbon dioxide and/or water, even when the reactants do not contain hydrogen or carbon, an answer that is inconsistent with the principle of atom conservation. Our study also corroborates the finding that students frequently say that oxygen is “necessary for” or “used in” combustion reactions without connecting this reasoning to conservation principles, suggesting that this likewise may be a rotely applied, memorized rule.

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“…The literature that specifically addresses ideas about chemicals and classification of chemical substances is limited to one study with teenagers (Solomonidou & Stavridou, 2000), a few studies with college‐level students (Nicoll, 1997, 1999; Stains & Talanquer, 2007), and one study with teachers (Salloum & BouJaoude, 2008). While ideas about chemicals among students of all ages merit additional investigation, the ideas of elementary children are of particular interest because this is when their ideas about “chemicals” initially form.…”

Section: Relevant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Hannah's Prior Knowledge About Chemicals: A Case Study of One Fourth‐Grade Child

Bretz

Emenike

2012

School Sci & Mathematics

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Chemical principles are taught in elementary education across much of the United States because the National Science Education Standards include concepts about the nature of matter, states of matter, and changes in matter among other science concepts within the first to fifth grade levels. “Chemicals” is a word related to the nature of matter that is used not only in formal instruction, but also in everyday conversations. Children's prior knowledge about chemicals gained from everyday experiences will influence how they learn about chemical principles. The research described herein reveals insights into one child's conceptual structure related to the word “chemical,” which includes how she uses the word both inside and outside of school. Hannah was purposefully chosen for this case study because she exemplified “children's science.” Her understanding of chemicals as cleaners, in foods, and used for a purpose were primarily gained from everyday experiences. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to both future research and elementary science education.

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"Chemical-Free" Foods: An Investigation of Student's Definitions of a Chemical

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Chemistry Education: Ten Heuristics To Tame

Chemistry Education: Ten Heuristics To Tame

“Combustion always produces carbon dioxide and water”: a discussion of university chemistry students' use of rules in place of principles

Hannah's Prior Knowledge About Chemicals: A Case Study of One Fourth‐Grade Child

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