Unpacking the Gestures of Chemistry Learners: What the Hands Tell Us About Correct and Incorrect Conceptions of Stereochemistry

Ping, Raedy M.; Church, R. Breckinridge; Decatur, Mary-Anne; Larson, Samuel W.; Zinchenko, Elena; Goldin‐Meadow, Susan

doi:10.1080/0163853x.2020.1839343

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In one study, graduate students struggled to see molecular representations on paper as 3D and felt the representations were stuck in the orientation on the paper . Other studies indicate that students prefer bond-line structures because they are “flat” and that students often struggle to visualize conformational changes and stereochemistry. , Researchers have identified that students with high spatial ability tend to visualize molecules in 3D when performing spatial tasks (e.g., assigning stereochemistry), which supports their success with problem solving. ,, Focused instruction on spatial reasoning can support students’ learning, while students with lower spatial ability can be successful when using alternative strategies for spatial tasks. , Furthermore, students in general can benefit from learning from representations by using gestures or via instruction with visualizations involving 3D structures, animations, dynamic videos, and virtual reality. ,,− …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ Strategies, Struggles, and Successes with Mechanism Problem Solving in Organic Chemistry: A Scoping Review of the Research Literature

Dood

Watts

2022

J. Chem. Educ.

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Solving problems in organic chemistry often requires the consideration of reaction mechanisms. As such, much research has been devoted to the examination of how students consider mechanisms when solving various types of organic chemistry problems, such as predicting the products of a reaction or proposing a synthesis. This article provides a scoping review of this body of research, with a focus on the key themes in the research literature regarding students’ problem solving with organic reaction mechanisms. We first review the literature focused on how students approach mechanism problems in organic chemistry and the common challenges students face with using the electron-pushing formalism. We then identify and synthesize the research findings related to four themes prevalent in the literature about students’ mechanistic problem solving. The first two themes are concerned with common difficulties students demonstrate when solving mechanism problems: (1) solving problems with a product-oriented, rather than process-oriented, approach and (2) focusing on surface features rather than implicit properties of chemical structures and mechanisms. The second two themes involve the particularly challenging aspects of problem solving with reaction mechanisms: the need to (1) consider multiple representations and (2) reason with multiple variables. After discussing these themes, we review the research on how mechanistic problem solving develops through undergraduate and graduate school and then review the literature focused on using and developing authentic problem types to support students’ learning. We conclude by synthesizing implications for teaching and supporting students’ development of problem solving with organic reaction mechanisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ Strategies, Struggles, and Successes with Mechanism Problem Solving in Organic Chemistry: A Scoping Review of the Research Literature

Dood

Watts

2022

J. Chem. Educ.

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“…Speech coding. We coded speech according to a system developed in Ping et al (2021), shown in Table 2. This system ).…”

Section: Codingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching stereoisomers through gesture, action, and mental imagery

Ping

Parrill

Church

et al. 2022

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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“…The role of gestures in combination with spoken language have been used to obtain insights of metaphors in different areas of STEM education (e.g. Alibali & Nathan 2012;Dreyfus et al, 2015;Ping et al, 2021). Other studies within the field of computer programming, for example Manches et al, (2020) show promising and interesting results in terms of how computing constructs are communicated by students using both gestures and verbal utterances.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hands on programming: Teachers’ use of Metaphors in gesture and Speech make Abstract concepts tangible

Larsson

Stolpe

2022

Int J Technol Des Educ

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Metaphors in gesture and speech play a pivotal role in the way that programming concepts are presented in the classroom. However, little is known about the function of teachers’ metaphors in practice. This study aims to explore teachers’ use of metaphors in gesture and speech in a lecture on programming. Based on video observations of three upper secondary teachers, we employ Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) and Metaphor Identification for Gesture Guidelines (MIG-G) as methodological tools for identifying metaphoric speech and gestures related to programming concepts. The results of the study reveal that the gestures of the three teachers mainly function in two ways: (1) to add spatial properties to a programming concept and (2) to provide additional imagery for a programming concept. Consequently, the gestures identified in this study reduce the communicative burden of teachers’ speech. Furthermore, the study reveals that teachers’ gestures serve as means for making abstract concepts more tangible. For example, gestures concerning the abstract term “data” can generally be related to an object that could be received or moved. Hence, despite its metaphorical origin, data could be considered a graspable aspect of programming. Furthermore, spatial gestures enable the teachers to communicate programming processes in a tangible way, for example assigning programming processes a forward direction. Theoretical implications, potential implications for teaching and future research are discussed in the paper.

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Unpacking the Gestures of Chemistry Learners: What the Hands Tell Us About Correct and Incorrect Conceptions of Stereochemistry

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Students’ Strategies, Struggles, and Successes with Mechanism Problem Solving in Organic Chemistry: A Scoping Review of the Research Literature

Students’ Strategies, Struggles, and Successes with Mechanism Problem Solving in Organic Chemistry: A Scoping Review of the Research Literature

Teaching stereoisomers through gesture, action, and mental imagery

Hands on programming: Teachers’ use of Metaphors in gesture and Speech make Abstract concepts tangible

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