This dissertation reports the results of an exploratory case study utilizing quantitative and qualitative methodologies intended to ascertain the extent and differences of implementation of research-based instructional practices, learned in an intensive 26-month professional development, in their urban classrooms. Both the extent and differences in the implementation of practices were investigated in relation to the lesson design and implementation, content, and classroom culture aspects of research-based practices. Additionally, this research includes the concerns of the teachers regarding the factors that helped or hindered the implementation of research-based practices in their classrooms. Six graduates of the Master of Chemistry Education Program who were teaching a chemistry course in a high school in the School District of Philadelphia at the time of the study (2006-8), were the case. The teachers completed a concerns questionnaire with closed and open-ended items, and rated their perceptions of the extent of implementation of the practices in their urban classrooms. Additionally, the teachers were observed and rated by the researcher using a reform-teaching observation protocol and were interviewed individually. Also, the teachers submitted their lesson plans for the days they were observed. Data from these sources were analyzed to arrive at the findings for this study. The research findings suggest that the group of teachers in the study implemented the research-based practices in their classrooms to a low extent when compared to the recommended practices inherent to the MCE Program. The extents of implementation of the practices differed widely among the teachers, from being absent to being implemented at a high level, with inconsistent levels of implementation from various data sources. Further, the teachers expressed the depth of knowledge (gained in the MCE Program), formal laboratory exercises and reports, administrative support, self-motivated students, and group/collaborative work as several factors that enabled or would have enabled the implementation of practices. Among the many factors that hindered the implementation of the practices in their urban classrooms were, the core curriculum and pacing schedule, followed by test preparation, administrative paper-work, large class-size, students not prepared for student-centered work, poor math and reading skills of students, students' lack of motivation, unsupportive department head, unresponsive administration, and lack of resources. / CITE/Mathematics and Science Education

Mgr. Danuše Součková: Analytical chemistry in secondary grammar school. Summary of Ph.D.Thesis Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Teaching and Didactics of Chemistry At the end of my thesis about the importace of chemical experiments in chemical education and especially about the importace of analytic chemistry in secondary grammar schools I'd like to summarize the most important ideas from particular chapters. I think that the objects I have determined at the beginnig, have been filled and my work will help to perceive analytic chemistry as an integral part of chemistry education in secondary grammar schools. I have emphasized importace of chemical experiment and its use in analytical chemistry education. I have pointed a possibility of working relation among school subjects and a possibility of putting several cross-sectional topics into analytic chemistry education. Other object was to check students' knowledge. I have also intent on particular experiments and I have dividend them into several groups and I have prepared them to be put just into lessons by teachers and some notices and solutions are added. I have described the work during the experimental lessons, the equipment for them, specific matter of analytical chemistry. When we understand the function and...

<p>Assessment of student learning is ubiquitous in higher education chemistry courses because it is the mechanism by which instructors can assign grades, alter teaching practice, and help their students to succeed. One type of assessment that is popular in general chemistry courses, yet difficult to create effectively, is the multiple-choice assessment. Despite its popularity, little is known about the extent that multiple-choice general chemistry exams adhere to accepted design practices or the processes that general chemistry instructors engage in while creating these assessments. Further understanding of multiple-choice assessment quality and the design practices of general chemistry instructors could inform efforts to improve the quality of multiple-choice assessment practice in the future. This work attempted to characterize multiple-choice assessment practices in undergraduate general chemistry classrooms by, 1) conducting a phenomenographic study of general chemistry instructor’s assessment practices and 2) designing an instrument that can detect violations of item writing guidelines in multiple-choice chemistry exams. </p> <p>The phenomenographic study of general chemistry instructors’ assessment practices included 13 instructors from the United States who participated in a three-phase interview. They were asked to describe how they create multiple-choice assessments, to evaluate six multiple-choice exam items, and to create two multiple-choice exam items using a think-aloud protocol. It was found that the participating instructors considered many appropriate assessment design practices yet did not utilize, or were not familiar with, all the appropriate assessment design practices available to them. </p> <p>Additionally, an instrument was developed that can be used to detect violations of item writing guidelines in multiple-choice exams. The instrument, known as the Item Writing Flaws Evaluation Instrument (IWFEI) was shown to be reliable between users of the instrument. Once developed, the IWFEI was used to analyze 1,019 general chemistry exam items. This instrument provides a tool for researchers to use to study item writing guideline adherence, as well as, a tool for instructors to use to evaluate their own multiple-choice exams. The use of the IWFEI is hoped to improve multiple-choice item writing practice and quality.</p> <p>The results of this work provide insight into the multiple-choice assessment design practices of general chemistry instructors and an instrument that can be used to evaluate multiple-choice exams for item writing guideline adherence. Conclusions, recommendations for professional development, and recommendations for future research are discussed.</p>

This diploma thesis is focused on development and production of functional parts and new materials for the purpose of supporting educational website www.studiumchemie.cz on evaluation of its operation. The changes were made in graphical, structural and functional parts of website, which were designed based on the analysis of behavior of visitors to the website and by direct reaction of visitors. Changes were related to structure of database of chemical experiments or creating new features for registered users, such as evaluation of materials or personification of user profile. In cooperation with specialists have been incorporated several new materials, focusing on the issues of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In addition to that, two new games have been prepared - Chemical pentathlon and Identify molecules. New materials should be used to expand the portfolio of educational materials on the website. Furthermore, the administration interface has been created and designed to meet the needs of editorial contributors site without prior programming experience. Evaluation of the statistics associated with the operation of the site showed that web traffic continues to grow. The most visited parts of the site are database of educational materials and videos of chemical experiments. The current site traffic is...

This report presents the results from a survey study on Swedish upper secondary school physics andchemistry teachers’ use of models and representations in teaching the atom. The study builds upon an earlier systematic international literature review on the role of models and representations in the teaching, learning and understanding of the atom. The overall aim of the study is to explore what models and representations are used by Swedish upper secondary school physics and chemistry teachers in their teaching about the atom, what informs teachers’ selection of the atomic models and representation forms and how they specifically use them in their teaching of the atom. The method for collecting the data for this study was an electronic questionnaire containing six introductory questions followed by nine open and four closed items, which were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Thirty-one responses were received and analysed in this study. The results of the study indicate that Swedish teachers’ selection and use of atomic models and representation forms in their practice correspond with findings in the previously conducted literature review. For example, the Bohr atomic model was shown to be the most popular for teaching about the atom amongst the Swedish teachers in this study, since it is deemed intuitive and easy to visualize. A further result revealed that the de Broglie atomic model was only used by physics teachers, and that physics teachers overall used more atomic models in their teaching than chemistry teachers, a finding that might be related to the different teaching content in physics and chemistry. The study also shows that Swedish teachers are very comfortable with, and advocate, using different representation forms in their teaching. One interesting finding in this regard was that the use of physical models is predominantly more popular among chemistry than physics teachers. In line with the findings in the previous literature review study, students’ prior knowledge and individual learning styles were found tobe important influencing factors in teachers’ selection of representation forms to use in the classroom.The majority of the teachers also agreed on that it is important to explain to students how models should be interpreted and used, but one interesting finding, that differs from the previous research, is that some teachers were of the opinion that students have an already well-developed modelling ability when encountering different models of the atom.

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Im Unterricht laufen routinierte Handlungen oft unbewusst ab. Solche Handlungsmuster sind wichtig für Lehrkräfte sowie für Schüler, da sie dem Unterricht Struktur geben und Sicherheit vermitteln. Sind sie aber hinderlich für die Entwicklung von Schülerleistungen, müssen sie verändert werden. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, kulturspezifische als auch schulstufenspezifische Handlungsmuster in Bezug auf die Umsetzung der Phasen der Erkenntnisgewinnung mit Hilfe einer Videoanalyse zu identifizieren. Dabei werden zusätzliche Qualitätsmerkmale einbezogen. Weiterhin wird überprüft, ob die Umsetzung der Erkenntnisgewinnung mit den Lehrer- und Schülervorstellungen zum Naturwissenschaftsverständnis zusammenhängt. Die Analyse der Unterrichtsvideos ergab, dass mehr Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Umsetzung von Erkenntnisgewinnungsprozessen auf kulturspezifischer Ebene bestehen als auf schulstufenspezifischer Ebene. Dabei fokussieren die schwedischen Lehrkräfte auf die Phase der Untersuchung und die dazugehörende Planungsphase. Die Lehrkräfte der deutschen Sekundarstufe I setzen hingegen auch andere Phasen der Erkenntnisgewinnung wie die Hypothesenbildung und die Auswertung und Interpretation vergleichsweise häufig um. Weiterhin zeigte sich trotz des (vorgegebenen) Fokus auf Erkenntnisgewinnung in der deutschen Sekundarstufe I eine konstant hohe Bedeutung der Vermittlung von Fachwissen. In der deutschen Sekundarstufe II ist auffällig, dass viel Zeit dazu verwendet wird, Versuche in selbstständiger Schülerarbeit aufzubauen. Vermutlich wird diesem Befund eine höhere Komplexität experimentellen Arbeitens zugrunde liegen. Generell werden im Chemieunterricht selten Fragestellungen formuliert und naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen reflektiert. Als zentrale Schlussfolgerung aus den Befunden kann abgeleitet werden, dass die Förderung einer ganzheitlichen, expliziten und möglichst offenen Umsetzung der Erkenntnisphasen in Schule und Lehrerausbildung notwendig ist. / In the classroom, routine actions are often carried out unconsciously. Such teaching patterns are important for teachers as well as for students as they structure lessons and provide security. However, if they are likely to be detrimental to the development of students, they must be changed. The aim of the current study is to identify culturally specific teaching patterns as well as teaching patterns between lower and upper secondary classes, by a comparison between students in Germany and Sweden followed by comparing teaching practices within several grades in Germany. This was achieved using video analysis to investigate the teaching practices used during the phases of Scientific Inquiry. During the analysis, further characteristics of quality were assessed. Further attention was paid to whether the implementation of Scientific Inquiry was related to the views of the nature of science held by the teachers and students. The analyses showed that the implementation of Scientific Inquiry differs more between Germany and Sweden than between grades. Swedish teachers focus on the investigation and the subordinate planning phase. Teachers of the German lower secondary classes focus more on other phases of Scientific Inquiry, such as formulating hypotheses and evaluation and interpretation. Although the focus of the lessons was given, content knowledge was often a particular focus in the German lower secondary classes. In German upper secondary grades it was apparent that a lot of time was spent enabling students to set up experiments on their own. This is presumably due to the higher complexity of the experimental work. In general, time is seldom spent on formulating scientific questions and reflecting on the scientific investigations. A major conclusion that can be derived from this study is that the support of a holistic, explicit and open implementation of the teaching of Scientific Inquiry remains indispensable in school and in teacher training.

A presente pesquisa está situada na interseção dos estudos sobre trabalho colaborativo, argumentação em ensino de ciências e ambientes virtuais de ensino-aprendizagem. Dessa forma, trata da argumentação colaborativa apoiada por computador em aulas de química. Os objetivos contemplam a construção do ambiente virtual de ensino-aprendizagem eduqui.info, o desenho metodológico de atividades didáticas pautadas na resolução de problemas sociocientíficos apresentados no formato de estudos de caso e a elaboração de quadro analítico capaz de permitir a análise dos dados coletados, no sentido de obter respostas às seguintes questões de investigação: Em que medida as atividades didáticas realizadas no eduqui.info favoreceram a prática da argumentação? Qual a qualidade dos argumentos produzidos pelos alunos a partir da realização de tais atividades? Quais aspectos se mostraram mais relevantes e influentes para a qualidade dos argumentos? A pesquisa foi organizada em dois ciclos de planejamento, execução e análise. Na etapa de planejamento foram elaborados os estudos de caso e o eduqui.info. Na etapa de execução, alunos de um curso de bacharelado em química solucionaram os estudos de caso nas diversas fases de atividades. Inicialmente, individualmente construíram um texto e um diagrama argumentativo com as respostas iniciais ao estudo de caso. Em seguida, organizados em duplas ou em trios, discutiram colaborativamente, encontraram uma solução para o caso e produziram um texto a respeito. Por fim, de forma individual, novo texto e diagrama argumentativo foram gerados. Para a terceira etapa, foi produzido um quadro analítico que subsidiou a análise da qualidade das discussões colaborativas na perspectiva da qualidade da produção e complexidade argumentativa e qualidade e diversidade conceitual. As discussões dos grupos que solucionaram quatro estudos de caso foram investigadas com base no referido quadro. Foi verificada a tendência da produção de mais mensagens no Fórum do eduqui.info do que o mínimo exigido na atividade, o que impactou no nível de produção argumentativa. Sobre a estrutura dos argumentos elaborados nas discussões, expressiva quantidade de componentes argumentativos foi empregada, elevando o nível de complexidade argumentativa das discussões. Com relação ao nível de qualidade conceitual, foi preponderante a adequação dos argumentos científicos, tecnológicos e ambientais, construídos à luz de leis e teorias aceitas pela comunidade científica. Foi também possível indicar os textos e os diagramas iniciais como aspectos que influenciaram fortemente a prática e a qualidade da argumentação nos grupos. / This research is located at the intersection of studies regarding collaborative work, argumentation in science teaching and virtual teaching and learning environments. Thus, it addresses collaborative argumentation supported by computing in chemistry lessons. The objectives include: constructing the eduqui.info virtual teaching and learning environment, the methodological design of didactic activities based on solving socioscientific problems presented as case studies and the establishment of an analytical framework which is able to analyse the data collected in terms of obtaining answers to the following research questions: To what extent did the didactic activities carried out in eduqui.info benefit the practice of argumentation? What is the quality of the arguments put forward by students based on the performance of these activities? Which aspects were most important and influential for the quality of the arguments? The research was organized in two phases of planning, execution and analysis. In the planning stage, the case studies and the eduqui.info were developed. In the execution stage, undergraduate chemistry students solved the case studies in the various phases of activities. Initially, they individually constructed a text and an argumentative diagram using the initial responses to the case study. Afterwards, in pairs or groups of three, they discussed collaboratively, found a solution to the case study and produced a text about it. Finally, individually, a new text and argumentative diagram were produced. For the third stage, an analytical framework was made that subsidized the analysis of the quality of the collaborative discussions in the perspective of production quality and argumentative complexity, as well as quality and conceptual diversity. The discussions in the groups that solved four case studies were investigated based on the aforementioned framework. We observed that there was a tendency to produce more messages in the eduqui.info forum than the minimum required in the activity, which affected the level of argumentative production. Regarding the structure of the arguments developed in the discussions, a significant amount of argumentative components was used, raising the level of argumentative complexity of the discussions. Regarding the level of conceptual quality, the adequacy of the scientific, technological and environmental arguments, constructed considering laws and theories accepted by the scientific community, was preponderant. The texts and initial diagrams were also indicated as aspects that strongly influenced the practice and quality of argumentation in the groups.

A presente pesquisa está situada na interseção dos estudos sobre trabalho colaborativo, argumentação em ensino de ciências e ambientes virtuais de ensino-aprendizagem. Dessa forma, trata da argumentação colaborativa apoiada por computador em aulas de química. Os objetivos contemplam a construção do ambiente virtual de ensino-aprendizagem eduqui.info, o desenho metodológico de atividades didáticas pautadas na resolução de problemas sociocientíficos apresentados no formato de estudos de caso e a elaboração de quadro analítico capaz de permitir a análise dos dados coletados, no sentido de obter respostas às seguintes questões de investigação: Em que medida as atividades didáticas realizadas no eduqui.info favoreceram a prática da argumentação? Qual a qualidade dos argumentos produzidos pelos alunos a partir da realização de tais atividades? Quais aspectos se mostraram mais relevantes e influentes para a qualidade dos argumentos? A pesquisa foi organizada em dois ciclos de planejamento, execução e análise. Na etapa de planejamento foram elaborados os estudos de caso e o eduqui.info. Na etapa de execução, alunos de um curso de bacharelado em química solucionaram os estudos de caso nas diversas fases de atividades. Inicialmente, individualmente construíram um texto e um diagrama argumentativo com as respostas iniciais ao estudo de caso. Em seguida, organizados em duplas ou em trios, discutiram colaborativamente, encontraram uma solução para o caso e produziram um texto a respeito. Por fim, de forma individual, novo texto e diagrama argumentativo foram gerados. Para a terceira etapa, foi produzido um quadro analítico que subsidiou a análise da qualidade das discussões colaborativas na perspectiva da qualidade da produção e complexidade argumentativa e qualidade e diversidade conceitual. As discussões dos grupos que solucionaram quatro estudos de caso foram investigadas com base no referido quadro. Foi verificada a tendência da produção de mais mensagens no Fórum do eduqui.info do que o mínimo exigido na atividade, o que impactou no nível de produção argumentativa. Sobre a estrutura dos argumentos elaborados nas discussões, expressiva quantidade de componentes argumentativos foi empregada, elevando o nível de complexidade argumentativa das discussões. Com relação ao nível de qualidade conceitual, foi preponderante a adequação dos argumentos científicos, tecnológicos e ambientais, construídos à luz de leis e teorias aceitas pela comunidade científica. Foi também possível indicar os textos e os diagramas iniciais como aspectos que influenciaram fortemente a prática e a qualidade da argumentação nos grupos. / This research is located at the intersection of studies regarding collaborative work, argumentation in science teaching and virtual teaching and learning environments. Thus, it addresses collaborative argumentation supported by computing in chemistry lessons. The objectives include: constructing the eduqui.info virtual teaching and learning environment, the methodological design of didactic activities based on solving socioscientific problems presented as case studies and the establishment of an analytical framework which is able to analyse the data collected in terms of obtaining answers to the following research questions: To what extent did the didactic activities carried out in eduqui.info benefit the practice of argumentation? What is the quality of the arguments put forward by students based on the performance of these activities? Which aspects were most important and influential for the quality of the arguments? The research was organized in two phases of planning, execution and analysis. In the planning stage, the case studies and the eduqui.info were developed. In the execution stage, undergraduate chemistry students solved the case studies in the various phases of activities. Initially, they individually constructed a text and an argumentative diagram using the initial responses to the case study. Afterwards, in pairs or groups of three, they discussed collaboratively, found a solution to the case study and produced a text about it. Finally, individually, a new text and argumentative diagram were produced. For the third stage, an analytical framework was made that subsidized the analysis of the quality of the collaborative discussions in the perspective of production quality and argumentative complexity, as well as quality and conceptual diversity. The discussions in the groups that solved four case studies were investigated based on the aforementioned framework. We observed that there was a tendency to produce more messages in the eduqui.info forum than the minimum required in the activity, which affected the level of argumentative production. Regarding the structure of the arguments developed in the discussions, a significant amount of argumentative components was used, raising the level of argumentative complexity of the discussions. Regarding the level of conceptual quality, the adequacy of the scientific, technological and environmental arguments, constructed considering laws and theories accepted by the scientific community, was preponderant. The texts and initial diagrams were also indicated as aspects that strongly influenced the practice and quality of argumentation in the groups.

<p>Undersökningar visar att lärare, till skillnad från många andra professionella yrkesgrupper, sällan refererar till teorier när de anger vilka motiv deras praktiska verksamhet har. Den kollegiala diskussionen bland lärare är sällan av teoretisk karaktär utan handlar ofta om praktiska förhållanden . En stor del av lärarkunskapen verkar vara ”tyst”.” Tyst kunskap ska här förstås som erfarenhetsbaserad kunskap som uppnås genom praktiserande verksamhet, en typ av förtrogenhetskunskap som kräver överblick över situationen man befinner sig i. I det här arbetet studerar jag relationen mellan lärarens reflektioner om sin egen praktik i relation till lärarens syn på elevernas progression under kemilaborationer. Syftet med undersökningen är att ge några bilder av tankemönster man möter i diskussionen kring undervisningen i kemi. Tankemönster i samband med undervisning ses här som delar av lärarens tysta kunskap. Den empiriska undersökningen baseras på intervjuer med kemilärare på gymnasie- och högstadieskolor. I undersökningen identifieras några aspekter av kemilärares tysta kunskap i relation till elevers lärandeprocess under kemilaborationer. Resultaten visar en koppling till litteratur och forskning inom området för hur effektiv undervisning kan bedrivas.</p> / <p>Investigations show that teachers, in contrast to many other professionals, seldom refer to theories in discussions about the motives in their practice. Professional discussions among teachers often deal with practical matters and rarely about theoretical issues. Major parts of teachers’ knowledge seem to be tacit. Tacit knowledge should be understood as knowledge received by practical experience, a type of confidential knowledge. In this work I have studied the relation between teachers’ reflections about their own practice and the teachers’ views of the students’ progression in learning during laboratory courses. The aim of this paper is to find some of the common thoughts shared by chemistry teachers, which are expressed when describing their practice. These kinds of “mind patterns” are here comprehended as part of the teachers’ tacit knowledge. The empirical investigation is based on interviews with chemistry teachers in upper level of compulsory school and in upper secondary school. The results of the investigation indicate connections to research and literature about effective learning.</p>