3,683 research outputs found
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
“Zombie attack” a new way to teach Chemistry
The Higher Education requires new models which allow training people able to adapt and survive in changing environments. It is based on the use of technologies and the adaptation of knowledge to people. It is about an education according to circumstances, which is adapted to context and virtual behaviour of people.
One of the main difficulties that lecturers find in the classroom is how to maintain students' attention and interest in their subject, especially when students also think that the subject is not important for their training. In order to motivate these students, innovation in educational techniques and methodologies, such as experiential learning, are progressively being imposed to and/or coordinated with the traditional ones. Escape Room is a very modern concept in education, based on the development of mental skills for the solution of enigmas and problems. It is a tool to develop the cooperative, cognitive, deductive and logical reasoning skills of the students.
In this work, an educational gamification experience based on the escape room concept is presented. The students have 1 hour and 30 minutes to carry out this activity. They will have to solve four puzzles and enigmas that will give them the key to open a treasure chest and finally let them escape from the classroom. Logic, ingenuity and teamwork will allow participants to develop not only chemical competence, but also other basic skills. The story that is told throughout the escape room is a zombie attack: the city has been infected (with a virus) and only the occupants of the room where the activity takes place have not been infected. In addition, they can all protect themselves if they are able to open the chest where the antidote is located. The aim of this activity is to enhance the knowledge acquired throughout the semester as well as the development of skills.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec
Una experiencia de clase invertida en la enseñanza de la programación
Ponència presentada a les XXIV Jornadas sobre la Enseñanza Universitaria de la Informática, celebrades a Barcelona del 4 al 6 de juliol de 2018El contexto de este trabajo es la asignatura Programación I del Grado en Diseño y Desarrollo de Videojuegos de la Universitat Jaume I. El plan de estudios de este grado combina una formación en conocimientos de las TIC con contenidos de arte, diseño conceptual, comunicación, narrativa y producción, buscando un perfil que integre las competencias necesarias para el diseño y desarrollo de videojuegos. La asignatura Programación I se incluye en el primer semestre del primer curso. A la vista de las bajas tasas de rendimiento y éxito de la asignatura, en comparación con las demás asignaturas de primero, se puede concluir que es la que más dificultades plantea al estudiantado medio que ingresa en el grado. La asignatura Programación I se ha venido impartiendo desde sus inicios con una metodología clásica, en la que las profesoras imparten los contenidos teorico-prácticos del temario, proponiendo al estudiantado la resolución de ejercicios adicionales en su tiempo de trabajo no presencial. Recientemente hemos detectado un ligero empeoramiento de las tasas de rendimiento y éxito. Una posible hipótesis que explicaría este hecho es que el estudiantado no está dedicando el tiempo requerido para completar el trabajo no presencial planificado. Para corroborar esta hipótesis e intentar corregir la situación actual, en el curso 2017/18 hemos realizado cambios en la metodología docente de la asignatura, aplicando la filosofía de la clase invertida. En este trabajo presentamos el detalle de la metodología utilizada, así como las observaciones que hemos recogido y nuestras reflexiones al respecto.The context of this work is the Programming I course of the Degree in Design and Development of Videogames of Universitat Jaume I. The study plan of this degree combines a training in ICT knowledge with contents of art, conceptual design, communication, narrative and production, seeking a profile that integrates the necessary skills for the design and development of videogames. The Programming I course is included in the first semester of the first course. In view of the low performance and success rates of the course, compared with the rest of first-year courses, it can be concluded that it is the course that poses the greatest difficulties for the average student entering the degree. The Programming I course has been taught since its inception with a classical methodology, in which teachers impart the theoretical and practical content of the syllabus, proposing to the student the resolution of additional exercises in their time outside the classroom. Recently we have detected a slight worsening of the performance and success rates. A possible hypothesis that would explain this fact is that the students are not dedicating the required time to complete the scheduled outof-class work. To corroborate this hypothesis and try to correct the current situation, in this academic year 2017/18 we have made changes in the teaching methodology of the course, applying the philosophy of the flipped classroom. In this paper we present the details of the methodology used, as well as the observations we have gathered and our reflections on these
Música i cerimònia per a la festivitat de Sant Narcís a la Consueta de la Catedral de Girona, 1595-1655
La Consueta de la catedral de Girona és un manuscrit en el qual es recullen les diferents cerimònies litúrgiques de la seu, així com les indicacions necessàries per a la seva pràctica. D'aquest document existeixen diferents exemplars; el més antic és el que es va redactar al segle xiviv (1360), Consueta ecclesiae Gerundensis. El que centrarà aquest article, la Consueta de 1595-1655, és una important font d'informació que documenta l'activitat musical i cerimonial a la ciutat. Il·lustrarà aquest treball la descripció de la festivitat de Sant Narcís, cosa que situarà, així mateix, la música religiosa en el context cerimonial urbà de l'època.The Consueta (customary rules) of Girona Cathedral is a document that describes in great detail all the liturgical ceremonies of this church. There are different versions of this document; the oldest one is the Consueta Ecclesiae Gerundensis, written in the 14th century. This article will focus on the description of the festivity of Saint Narcissus, patron of Girona, as presented in the Consueta of 1595-1655, a significant source of information that supplies documentary evidence about the musical and ceremonial activity in the city. The liturgical content of the Consueta is presented within the urban ceremonial context of that time
Música i cerimònia per a la festivitat de Sant Narcís a la Consueta de la Catedral de Girona, 1595-1655
La Consueta de la catedral de Girona és un manuscrit en el qual es recullen les diferents cerimònies litúrgiques de la seu, així com les indicacions necessàries per a la seva pràctica. D'aquest document existeixen diferents exemplars; el més antic és el que es va redactar al segle xiviv (1360), Consueta ecclesiae Gerundensis. El que centrarà aquest article, la Consueta de 1595-1655, és una important font d'informació que documenta l'activitat musical i cerimonial a la ciutat. Il·lustrarà aquest treball la descripció de la festivitat de Sant Narcís, cosa que situarà, així mateix, la música religiosa en el context cerimonial urbà de l'època.The Consueta (customary rules) of Girona Cathedral is a document that describes in great detail all the liturgical ceremonies of this church. There are different versions of this document; the oldest one is the Consueta Ecclesiae Gerundensis, written in the 14th century. This article will focus on the description of the festivity of Saint Narcissus, patron of Girona, as presented in the Consueta of 1595-1655, a significant source of information that supplies documentary evidence about the musical and ceremonial activity in the city. The liturgical content of the Consueta is presented within the urban ceremonial context of that time
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