Review of Pioneers of Quantum Chemistry

There is little doubt that reading books other than textbooks represents an important component of maintaining knowledge for many chemistry educators. Nonetheless, with 30 or more books a year being produced by the ACS Symposium Series alone, how can choices be made about what merits reading time? Certainly, the presentation of current research trends that might influence the chemistry taught in courses represents one metric, but there are many additional worthy books. In terms of potential teaching treasures to be mined, time spent reading history of science presents a strong possibility

Applying a resources framework to analysis of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation

We suggest one redefinition of common clusters of questions used to analyze student responses on the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). Our goal is to move beyond the expert/novice analysis of student learning based on pre-/post-testing and the correctness of responses (either on the overall test or on clusters of questions defined solely by content). We use a resources framework, taking special note of the contextual and representational dependence of questions with seemingly similar physics content. We analyze clusters in ways that allow the most common incorrect answers to give as much, or more, information as the correctness of responses in that cluster. Furthermore, we show that false positives can be found, especially on questions dealing with Newton's Third Law.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res; Revised: 12 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res., altered content and focu

Online and clicker quizzing on jargon terms enhances definition-focused but not conceptually focused biology exam performance

Mastery of jargon terms is an important part of student learning in biology and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains. In two experiments, we investigated whether prelecture quizzes enhance memory for jargon terms, and whether that enhanced familiarity can facilitate learning of related concepts that are encountered during subsequent lectures and readings. Undergraduate students enrolled in neuroanatomy and physiology courses completed 10-minute low-stakes quizzes with feedback on jargon terms either online (experiment 1) or using in-class clickers (experiment 2). Quizzes occurred before conventional course instruction in which the terms were used. On exams occurring up to 12 weeks later, we observed improved student performance on questions that targeted memory of previously quizzed jargon terms and their definitions relative to questions on terms that were not quizzed. This pattern occurred whether those questions were identical (experiment 1) or different (experiment 2) from those used during quizzing. Benefits of jargon quizzing did not consistently generalize, however, to exam questions that assessed conceptual knowledge but not necessarily jargon knowledge. Overall, this research demonstrates that a brief and easily implemented jargon-quizzing intervention, deliverable via Internet or in-class platforms, can yield substantial improvements in students\u27 course-relevant scientific lexica, but does not necessarily impact conceptual learning

Magical attachment: Children in magical relations with hospital clowns

The aim of the present study was to achieve a theoretical understanding of several different-age children's experiences of magic relations with hospital clowns in the context of medical care, and to do so using psychological theory and a child perspective. The method used was qualitative and focused on nine children. The results showed that age was important to consider in better understanding how the children experienced the relation with the hospital clowns, how they described the magical aspects of the encounter and how they viewed the importance of clown encounters to their own well-being. The present theoretical interpretation characterized the encounter with hospital clowns as a magical safe area, an intermediate area between fantasy and reality. The discussion presented a line of reasoning concerning a magical attachment between the child and the hospital clowns, stating that this attachment: a) comprised a temporary relation; b) gave anonymity; c) entailed reversed roles; and d) created an emotional experience of boundary-transcending opportunities