A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Education. / Three-dimensional visualisation is an important skill in chemistry but one in which many students experience difficulty. The main aims of this research were to identify the nature, extent and particularly the reasons for university students' difficulties in three-dimensional thinking and to devise teaching strategies for overcoming them. The research was restricted to the simpler aspects of three-dimensional thinking; it dealt only with rotation and reflection of simple molecules. The component steps required for the solution of three-dimensional problems were identified, and students' competence in these steps was tested. Pretest results showed that the students initially had poor visuaIisation skills. The main reasons for their difficulties were identified to be: (a) inability to visualise the three-dimensional structures of molecules, using the depth cues; (b) lack of precise understanding of the meaning of the phrases used in the questions (such as rotation about the X-axis; reflection in the XY plane); (c) inability to visualise the orientation of the axes and planes and of the positions of the atoms after an operation. A ninety minute remedial instruction programme on those aspects which caused difficulty was found to be enough, as shown by an analysis of covariance, to improve the students' visualisation skills very significantly (p < 0,01). / AC 2018

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This study investigated possible alternative Chemistry teaching methods to improve the learning and thus the pass rate of the learners of access programmes at the Port Elizabeth Technikon. The study traced Chemistry learning from the Pre-Technician course to the present Science Foundation Certificate. Since the latter programme is a new course with new criteria, only implemented since the beginning of 2003, it provided a suitable platform for the evaluation and updating, if necessary, of new teaching methods. The study was limited to the subject of Chemistry. The participating learners in this qualitative research were fully informed of the objectives of this research and, for ethical reasons, their identities were protected. The methodology chosen was action research, which will include discussions regarding the choice, necessity and value of the research method. The following tools were used to collect data to determine approaches to learning and how the examination results were influenced: Questionnaires; Journal entries of students; Interviews; Data of examination results.

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Dealing with the college laboratory program in general chemistry, this study compares the effects of exercises based on current national problems with the effects of traditional laboratory exercises. The study has been prompted by the recent emphasis on topics of national interest in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. These topics include air and water pollution, drug addiction and analysis, tetraethyl-lead additives, insecticides in the environment, and recycling of wastes. The relevant experiments are taken from recent issues of the Journal of Chemical Education. The traditional exercises, from the laboratory manual Chemistry in the Laboratory, by Watt, Hatch, and Lagowski (New York, Norton, 1964), deal with such topics as chemical composition, gas laws, solutions, and acids and bases.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an expository advance organizer on the achievement of students in a general chemistry course. The subjects included 181 first year college students enrolled in 12 sections of general chemistry at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Thailand. The subjects were randomly assigned by section into two treatment and control groups. The treatment groups received an advance organizer or an introductory passage prior to instruction. The control group received no treatment prior to instruction. The equivalence of the control and two treatment groups at the beginning of the study was determined by the application of a teacher-made pretest. No significant differences in chemistry achievement were found among the three groups. Prior to classroom instruction and laboratory instruction, the advance organizer group received expository organizers, and the introductory passage group received introductory passages to read and study. The treatment period covered 21 days of instruction. Upon completion of all study material, a teacher-made achievement posttest covering the material taught during the study was administered to all groups. The posttest was administered again two weeks later as a retention test. Achievement test scores were analyzed by use of a one-way analysis of variance. The results indicated that the advance organizer group performed significantly better than the control and introductory passage groups on the achievement posttest and retention test. Theses findings provided evidence that an expository organizer facilitated learning and retention of general chemistry more than an introductory passage and no treatment. These results supported Ausubel's Advance Organizer Theory in the facilitating effects of advance organizers on student achievement. / Graduation date: 1992

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This experiment demonstrated that it is possible to use classroom intervention to change the attitudes of female college students towards theoretical and applied chemistry. A pilot study was used to test the experimental design, develop measuring instruments and obtain some preliminary information on the attitudes of college science students. The experiment was of the pretest, post-test, experimental, control group design with a total sample size of 204 students. The treatment experienced by the experimental group consisted of a modified curriculum that included information about topics found by the researcher to be of interest to women, information about how chemistry benefits human health and the environment, a laboratory manual containing profiles of prominent Canadian women chemists and visits by women chemical engineers. Regression analysis of the data showed a significant positive change in the attitudes of the female students in the experimental group (p $<$.05) and there was some indication that more of them were contemplating a career in the theoretical or applied physical sciences. The experiment indicated the importance of sensitizing college instructors to the needs of female students. A series of recommendations for college instructors and the Ministry of Education resulted from this work.

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