How to teach chemistry? Is Chemistry a new universal language

Chemistry has been developed greatly throughout the 20th century. Chemistry is included in the curriculum of elementary and secondary education. In general, students are not interested in science, and because of this ,students tend not to make an effort to learn and understand the meaning of concepts and the chemistry language that are being taught to them. If we consider that there is a little bit analogy between chemistry and foreign languages, we should learn the sym bols of the Periodic Table as symbols of an alphabet. The first knowledge that one needs to know when we are learning a second language is the new symbols of our new alphabet. It is necessary to learn more than 103 symbols, the chemical alphabet. After that, the students are ready to begin the formation of chemical words. In this case, learning the compounds names is easier when only two elements are involved, but when there are more than two, the chemical language is more complex. The proposal of this study is intended to design and implement a teaching strategy for teaching and learning the chemical language, first of all the chemical alphabet, the Periodic Table and then, the language which it is built the chemistry. For this proposal, we will use some m ultimedia application (Information and Communication Technologies (ITC)), which consists in an interactive periodic table. Students will be able to push one element and they will be able to see the properties of this element and which other element will be able to combine with it, and furthermore, if this element will be able to combine with itself. When they know properly the simple language, they will be able to continue studying more complex words, in this case, the reactions. With this multimedia application, the students will be able to watch how the atoms will change, one atom changes to a new atom during a whole reaction. And finally, they will be able to watch how these new atoms have new properties, and they combine each one. With this Periodic Table, the students learn chemical formulas and equations. 2. Experimental. This study was created as a descriptive study in which the survey technique was used. The study was carried out during the course 2013 /14. The sample consisted of 35 volunteer studen ts from two different classes, at the first course of Mechanical Engineer degree at University of Málaga. But the vast majority of them were there, they did not love chemistry. Each student made one questionnaire about the utility of our multimedia application. The scale of the test was a five point Likert type scale with a range of five options. The positive items range from 1= Certainly Agree to 5 = Certainly Disagree. 3. Results and Discussion. Mostly the average of these statements showed an overall positive response statements .The majority of the each student average of the response statements shown are positive, more than 2.5. After this study, we studied if there was some difference between the two groups studied and it can be seen that the mean an d the standard deviation for the different variables according to the two investigated groups demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the level of interest or utility that they give to the multimedia application. 4. Conclusions. The results of this study are based on a survey purpose after the use of an interactive application in order to improve the learning process of the chemistry language. This information is valuable since students could watch these animations on a computer. This is based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, which assumes that learners process information through a dual coding capability involving a auditory/verbal channel and a visual/pictorial channel. Nevertheless, the vast majority of students recognize that chemistry knowledge is useful to interpret aspect of their everyday life, but not many of them express their wish to continue chemistry studies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Chemical language, a language that you need to know if you want to learn Chemistry

There is a little bit analogy between chemistry and foreign languages. One reason why people find Chemistry as a language is because of the orthography, the systematic way it is written. In order to learn a second language, one needs to know the new symbols, In chemical language, it is necessary to learn 103 symbols, the chemical alphabet, this is the periodic table. After knowing the alphabet, the students are ready to begin the formation of chemical words. In this case, learning the compounds names are easier when only two elements are involved, but when there are more than two, the chemical language is more complex. As a language, students can build a huge amount of chemical formulas and reactions from finite components. After a few classes of chemistry, the students are ready to attempt intelligent conversation by combining the chemical alphabet words into sentences, the reactions. They can translate between Spanish and Chemistry. Actually, every chemist in every language refer to the same concept using the same word. It is true that in a subject as Chemistry, the language is laden with a specific vocabulary. As a foreign language, chemistry demand hard work in the form of many hours of repetitions examples and problems, but why not easy the burden by beginning. Chemical education researches have recognized that students often have difficulty learning chemistry concepts, language and so on. Researchers have proposed several suggestions as to the reasons for this difficulty, including frequent overloading of student working memory [1-3]. One of the major goals in teaching chemical language with a contextual approach is that students will develop the ability to understand a make decision about issued they may face in their everyday lives outside of the classroom [4,5]. In this work, we report a study that employed computer simulations. The proposal of this study is intended to design and implement a teaching strategy for teaching and learning the chemical language, first of all the chemical alphabet,the Periodic Table and then, the language which it is built the chemistry. For this proposal we will use some multimedia application (Information and Communication Technologies (TIC)), which consists in a interactive periodic table. Student will be able to push one element and they will be able to see the properties of this element and which other element will be able to combine with it, and furthermore, if this element will be able to combine with itself. Whenn they know properly the simple language, they will be able to continue studying more complex words, in this case, the reactions. With this multimedia application, the students will be able to watch how the atoms will change, one atom changes to a new atom during a whole reaction. And finally, they will be able to watch how these new atoms have new properties, and they combine each one. [1] Carlson, R., Chandler, P., Sweller, J., J. Educ. Psych., 95, (2003) p. 629. [2]. Johnstone, A. H., Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 7, (2006) pp 49. [3]. Johnstone, A. H., J. Chem. Educ., 87, (2010) pp 22. [4] King, D. 2007. Teacher beliefs and constraints in implementing a context-based approach in chemistry. Teaching Science- the Journal of the austalian Scinece teacher association, 53 (1), 14.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The use of simulations and videos in order to improve the learning of REDOX reactions in Engineering Degrees

Many students from secondary schools to universities in many countries struggle to learn chemistry and many do not succeed. Many high school and university students experience difficulties with fundamental ideas in chemistry [1]. Despite the importance of the foundation of chemistry, most students emerge from introductory courses with very limited understanding of the subject [2]. Chemistry had been regarded as a difficult subject for students by many researchers, teachers and science educators [3-4] because of the abstract nature of many chemical concepts, teaching styles applied in class, lack of teaching aids and the difficulty of the language of chemistry. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have fundamentally changed the practices and procedures of teaching Chemistry at University Degrees. In general, the use of ICT in education lends itself to more student-centred learning settings. Furthermore, and due to the fact that the globalization is becoming more and more important, the role of ICT in education is becoming more and more essential. The presence of ICT in the interactive educational environment can help to develop thinking skills and make classrooms an environment for educational growth. ICT also helps students to develop new thinking skills which may transfer to different situations which may require analysis and comprehension skills, and consequently critical skill development. ICT has become an increasingly popular technological tool within an educational context. Even though, the potential of ITC use in increasing student interactivity and collaboration has been explored by many educators, the research conducted on the effectiveness of these tools use in an educational context is still quite limited. In this work a study to investigate the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of Chemistry at Malaga University was conducted between 2015/16. The study participants were two classrooms of the 1º level of Mechanical Engineering Degree. In the present work, a positive attitude towards learning has been accompanied by a motivated behaviour. This could be seen as the use of the simulation and some videos (ICT). The present study investigated whether computer assisted instruction, simulation and videos were more effective than face-to-face instruction in increasing student success in chemistry. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness ICT as an educational tool in an undergraduate course for students. The results of the Mechanical Engineering Degree study is based on surveys purpose after the use of an interactive application and videos in order to know, if they think the use of these ITC have improved their learning process. On average, the students find the use and application useful, overall because they are able to transfer from macroscopic level to microscopic or/ and symbolic level. Several concepts and conceptual relations covered in the chemistry or science courses were provided in a concrete way, the help of computer simulations improved the student success significantly. [1] Carson, J. , & Watson, E. M (2002). Undergraduate students’ understandings of entropy and gibbs free energy. University Chemistry Education, 4, 4-12. [2] Ochs, R.S. (1996) Thermodynamics and Spontaneity, Journal of Chemical Education, 73(10), pp 952-954. [3] Carter, C.S. and Brickhouse, M.W. (1989) What Makes Chemistry Difficult? Alternate Perceptions, Journal of Chemical Education, 66(3), 223-225 [4] Nakhleh, M.B. (1992) Why Some Students Don’t Learn Chemistry, Chemical Misconceptions, Journal of Chemical Education, 69(3), 191-196.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Motivation to learn Chemistry in massive open online courses

One of the key factors for any educational proposal to achieve success lies in the motivation of students. The disposition that the students have before the learning is fundamental to be able to obtain the objectives. MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) has emerged strongly in the context of university education. The use of MOOC offers time in the classroom that can be used to do active learning activities in which teachers' role is essential, and students can review learning materials at their own pace. The objective of this paper was to evaluate a course about concepts. The use of a MOOC named Introduction to Chemistry: Reactions. It is a course for students with limited background in chemistry; basic concepts involved in chemical reactions, stoichiometry, the periodic table, periodic trends, nomenclature. The evaluation of the proposal was made by students of Electrical Engineers at University of Malaga, with satisfactory results.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Using computer animation simulation in chemistry in order to solve students´ misinterpretations and misconceptions about oxidation-reduction reactions.

1. Introduction – Chemical education researches have recognized that students often have difficulty learning chemistry concepts, and have proposed several suggestions as to the reasons for this difficulty, including frequent overloading of student working memory [1-4]. The researches on misconceptions and misinterpretations in oxidation-reductions reactions has focused on students‘ difficulties in properly identifying oxidation-reduction reactions [5]. In this work , we report a study that employed computer simulations to demonstrate an experiment that was relevant to the solution of chemistry problems. The goal of this study was to identify student errors as they attempted to interpret and explain the chemical processes. This research involves the use of qualitative y quantitative test and questionnaires to identify students ‘misconceptions. The effectiveness of using computer animations of chemical processes at the particulate level is based on Mayer´s cognitive theory of multimedia learning [6]. This theory assumes that leaners possess separate cognitive channels for processing visual and auditory information. 2. Experimental – This study was created as a descriptive study in which the survey technique was used. The study was carried out during the course 2013-2014. The sample consisted of 90 volunteer students (85 males and 5 females) from the first course of Mechanical Engineer degree, during the first semester, introductory chemistry course taught by two different chemistry instructors. Each student made 5 or 4 tests. The three groups which had participated, had the same experience in working with chemicals in lab, and two of the all three had attended the same computer simulations. The scale of the test was a five point Likert type scale with a range of five options. The positive items range from 1= Certainly Agree to 5 = Certainly Disagree. The relevant knowledge before and after the use of visual tools was identified using a pre- and post- test. What they thought that they knew about the topic was measured using a Questionnaire, before and after the use of the visual tools. And finally, only two groups, which had used the visual tools, answered the utility test about the visual tools. Computer animation. This program was about the silver-copper reaction, it was animated as two dimensional and when two objects approach each other, they were animated as colliding and bouncing off each other. The total viewing time for this animation is less than 1 minute. 3. Results and Discussion –The highest post test scores about the knowledge were obtained by students with high prior knowledge. And greatest gains were achieved by students with low prior knowledge who had high disembedding ability and used deep learning strategies. Animation encourages students with low prior knowledge to develop new ideas to create their mental models. Turning to some qualitative aspects of the use of the simulations, discussions with the students after the intervention showed that most students initially assumed that the simulation did not help them in the solution of the problems but were useful in helping with the proper application of the equations. Further discussion revealed some interesting aspects of the students´ actions and attitudes, with several of them admitting that through the simulation cleared something in their minds. 4. Conclusions The use of computer simulation can be helpful in improving problem solving. We recognize that other types of intervention might have been equally effective; but the issue here was whether a particular approach would be effective. 5. References [1] R. Carlson, P. Chandler, J. Sweller, J. Educ. Psych., 95, (2003) p. 629. [2] A. H. Johnstone, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 7, (2006) pp 49. [3] A. H. Johnstone, J. Chem. Educ., 87, (2010) pp 22. [4] R. Tasker, R. Dalton, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 7, (2006) pp 141. [5] P.J. Garnett, D.F. Treagust, J. Res. Sci. Teach., 29(1992a) pp 121. [6] R. E Mayer, “Multimedia learning” Cambridge University Press, New York, 2001.Universidad de Malaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tech

The use of YouTube in Chemistry classes to motivate students.

This communication describes an educational practice developed in the Chemistry subject, of the first year of the Degree in Electrical Engineering (University of Malaga, Spain). Based on the selection of a series of alternative methodologies to direct instruction, the students, through a prior inquiry process, have made, using the social network YouTube, an explanatory video of various points or important concepts included in the program of the subject. Based on the analysis of the videos (a total of 12), a questionnaire has been designed to determine the students' perceptions in relation to the tool and its educational implications, to which a total of 50 students responded. Based on the information collected, the students positively value the use of YouTube as a teaching resource, as well as the practice itself, highlighting a series of elements derived from the proposed teaching-learning process, such as creativity, fun and motivation in the acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, starting from the proposed research context, and taking into account its limitations, it can be determined that YouTube allows the development of communication skills, as well as the learning-to-learn competence, through autonomous, inquiring and experiential learning.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Construyendo un Escape Room Online como herramienta de formación o didáctica

Todos estarán de acuerdo en la utilidad de Escape Room Online como herramienta lúdica. El escape room como juego te brinda un buen rato conectado con un grupo de amigos o familiares, resolviendo acertijos, inmerso en un escenario adecuado y con una historia que nos transporta a otro lugar, momento o escenario de fantasía. Los juegos de escape también se han utilizado durante mucho tiempo para actividades de formación de equipos en el mundo empresarial. Los juegos de escape se han convertido en un excelente recurso para fortalecer equipos de trabajo, identificar roles de equipo y diagnosticar deficiencias en los mismos. En el camino se encuentran con acertijos que tienen que resolver utilizando herramientas y explorando contenidos relacionados con este proceso: desde identificar los componentes del proceso de emprendimiento hasta definir los obstáculos y palancas que se encuentran en su camino, analizando el contenido de un FODA, ( Debilidades, Amenazas, Fortalezas y Oportunidades), utilizar la metodología OKR (Objetivos y Resultados Clave) para medir el nivel de implementación de una cultura de innovación en la organización, todo esto a través de acertijos y enigmas y visitando diferentes lugares del aula en los que se tiene lugar el juego. El resultado es un acierto. Combinando contenidos formativos con el planteamiento de una situación en la que aplicarlos, todas las personas que participan en el juego consiguen consolidar los conocimientos que ya tienen, aprender otros nuevos y asociarlos también a situaciones concretas en las que aplicarlos. En este manuscrito se van a presentar los resultados obtenidos cuando se incluyó un escape room virtual en una asignatura de Química. Se puede demostrar que el gran esfuerzo realizado por los profesores ha obtenido beneficios. Los alumnos están más motivados por la asignatura gracias a los retos que se les proponen. En cuanto a las encuestas, se ha observado que la actitud positiva de los estudiantes indica que son muy favorables a la implementación de estas actividades. De la misma manera, son capaces de observar que los docentes muestran un gran interés porque aprenden y se motivan por la asignatura y la recuerdan en años posteriores con pensamientos positivos.Everyone will agree on the usefulness of an Escape Room Online as a playful tool. The escape room as a play gives you a good time connected with a group of friends or family, solving puzzles, immersed in a suitable setting and with a story that transports us to another place, fantasy moment or scenario. Escape Games have become an excellent resource to strengthen work teams, identify team roles and diagnose deficiencies in them. Along the way they come across puzzles that they have to solve using tools and exploring content related to this process: from identifying the components of the intrapreneurship process to defining the obstacles and levers that are in their way, analyzing the content of a SWOT, (Weaknesses , Threats, Strengths and Opportunities), use the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) methodology to measure the level of implementation of a culture of innovation in the organization, all this through puzzles and enigmas and visiting different places in the classroom in which the game takes place. The result is a success. By combining training content with the approach of a situation in which to apply it, all the people who participate in the game manage to consolidate the knowledge they already have, learn new ones and also associate them with specific situations in which to apply them. In this manuscript is going to present the results obtained when an escape room virtual was included in a chemistry subject. It can be shown that the great effort made by professors has obtained benefits. The students are more motivated by the subject thanks to the challenges that are proposed to them. It has been observed that the positive attitude for students which indicate that they are very favourable to the implementation of these activities. In the same way, they are able to observe that teachers show great interest because they learn and are motivated by the subject and remember it in later years with positive thoughts

Using a periodic table multimedia in order to simplify a new universal language, the chemical language

There is a little bit analogy between chemistry and foreign languages. Most languages have different alphabets for each one. In order to learn a second language, one needs to know the new symbols. In chemical language, it is necessary to learn more than 103 symbols, the chemical alphabet. After knowing the alphabet, the students are ready to begin the formation of chemical words. In this case, learning the compounds names is easier when only two elements are involved, but when there are more than two, the chemical language is more complex. After a few classes of chemistry, the students are ready to attempt intelligent conversation by combining the chemical alphabet words into sentences, the reactions. When students know the chemical alphabet, some elements properties and after all, students can combine these words into meaningful sentences. They can translate between Spanish and Chemistry. As a foreign language, chemistry demand hard work in the form of many hours of repetitions examples and problems, but why not easy the burden by beginning at the beginning using the chemical alphabet to teach students how to speak the language. Chemical education researches have recognized that students often have difficulty learning chemistry concepts, language and so on. Researchers have proposed several suggestions as to the reasons for this difficulty, including frequent overloading of student working memory [1-3]. As a student, I was used to learning with a typical text book, but nowadays as an instructor, I would like to teach with new method, which would improve the students‘ motivation. One of the major goals in teaching chemical language with a contextual approach is that students will develop the ability to understand a make decision about issued they may face in their everyday lives outside of the classroom [4,5]. Teachers must better prepare students for the modern world teaching with a modern approach. In this work, we report a study that employed computer simulations. The proposal of this study is intended to design and implement a teaching strategy for teaching and learning the chemical language, first of all the chemical alphabet,the Periodic Table and then, the language which it is built the chemistry. For this proposal we will use some multimedia application (Information and Communication Technologies (TIC)), which consists in a interactive periodic table. Student will be able to push one element and they will be able to see the properties of this element and which other element will be able to combine with it, and furthermore, if this element will be able to combine with itself. Whenn they know properly the simple language, they will be able to continue studying more complex words, in this case, the reactions. With this multimedia application, the students will be able to watch how the atoms will change, one atom changes to a new atom during a whole reaction. And finally, they will be able to watch how these new atoms have new properties, and they combine each one. [1] Carlson, R., Chandler, P., Sweller, J., J. Educ. Psych., 95, (2003) p. 629. [2]. Johnstone, A. H., Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 7, (2006) pp 49. [3]. Johnstone, A. H., J. Chem. Educ., 87, (2010) pp 22. [4] King, D. 2007. Teacher beliefs and constraints in implementing a context-based approach in chemistry. Teaching Science- the Journal of the austalian Scinece teacher association, 53 (1), 14. [5] King, D., Bellocchi, A., and Ritchie, S.M. 2008. Making connections: learning and teaching chemistry in context. Research in Science Education, 38(3) 365.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Using ITC in order to improve chemistry learning at the university degrees.

Introduction. The teaching of chemistry has several difficulties for several reasons: the lack of interest and motivation in students and little connection between the curriculum of compulsory education and university. This causes a negative idea about Chemistry. For these reasons, it was thought that the use of ICTs could be very beneficial for chemistry teaching and learning. In general, ICT can help us to increase participation of students in the area and would improve the direct intervention of the students which motivates their learning. On the other hand, every students have smartphone and internet access, therefore they are able to take photos, search on internet and download videos. One experience consists of developing a blog, where the students are responsible for the design, development and inclusion of material in the blog. Thus, they are developing the blog and are enhanced since they are looking for materials to include in the blog. On the other hand, it was identified student misconceptions and misinterpretation for Mechanical Engineering students as they are attempting to interpret and explain the chemical processes. Oxidation-reduction reactions were identified the most difficult concept. The objective has been to carry out a proposal for teaching contents of chemistry using didactic resources for virtual environment, the use of a simulation that lets students to construct useful mental models. Experimental – The first experience was based in a comparative test of 10 questions related with the topics of the subject. Two groups of 60 students of Science education have participated. A group of students, who participated, designed and entered the blog and another group that was not involved in the blog. And the second experience, the survey technique was used. The sample consisted of 50 volunteer students from the first course of Mechanical Engineer degree. Both experiences took place during the course 2013/14. Results. The blog study demonstrated that developing blogs by students significantly increased the number scientifically acceptable ideas in student´s conceptions of science. The use of animation has been demonstrated that showing animations to students, allows them to practise, so significantly increased the number of scientifically acceptable ideas in student’s conceptions of redox reactions. Conclusion. The use of either the blog or the simulation can be helpful in improving problem solving. This encourages students to develop new ideas about science, and allow them to create a memory from viewing animations, leading to confirmation or modification of the existing mental model.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The use of flipped classroom to learn a new language at the University

The Flipped Classroom model consists on a type of blended learning that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content outside of the classroom and usually on line. Most descriptions of the flipped classroom suggest that multimedia lectures be recorded so students can view them out of class and at their own pace as homeworks ( Prober & Khan, 2013)Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional. Andalucía Tec