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Underpinning Ideaso What do you do when the fundamental concepts of your
discipine are misunderstood?
o By students at all levels, by those teaching the subject, and by all the rest.
Does ‘Chemophobia’ Exist?Frequency of ‘chemophobia’ in books SOURCE: Google ngram viewer
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Chemophobia
Fear of Chemical
s
Fear of Chemistr
y Ignorance of Chemistry
RSC #ChemPerceptionso Positive attitude towards chemistry (associated with
school) and chemists (associated with pharmacists)
o Some ambiguity towards chemicalso Most realised that ‘everything is a chemical’o Many define chemical as human-made/synthetic,
toxic/harmfulo Many believe that natural chemicals are ‘safer’ than
synthetic chemicals
natural
chemical formula
has defined physical
properties
solid, liquid, gas
Chemical
synthetic
has constant composition compounds
elements
has defined chemical
properties
reactivity (chemical reactions)
molecules
atoms
origin
Study 1: Is Water a Chemical?
scientist
non-scientist
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
YES ambiguous NO
% of 1st year… yes no don't know
chemistry 80.8 16.4 2.7
geography 74.4 22.1 3.5
Study 2: Is Water a Chemical?
“I would consider a chemical to be something 'man-made' rather than
naturally occurring”1st year Chemistry DH student
“you can drink water, you can't drink chemicals”
1st year Chemistry SH
Watero Oxidane [IUPAC recommended name]
o Dihydrogen monoxide [pedantic name]
o Water [common name, refers to liquid or vapour]
o Aqua [ingredient name]
o H2O [chemical formula]
Study 1: Water & Related
DHMO known
DHMO unknown
Water known
Water unknown
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
safe fairly safe neutral fairly unsafe unsafe
Study 1: Terminology
aspirin
acetyl
salicy
lic ac
id
2-acetyl
benzoic a
cidwate
r
dihydroge
n monoxid
e0
1
2
3
Rate these substances 1 = Safe, 3 = neutral, 5 = Unsafe
Aver
age
of re
spos
es
Study 1: Aspirin & Related
2-acetylbenzoic acid
acetylsalicylic acid
aspirin
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
safe fairly safe neutral fairly unsafe unsafe
Study 1: Aspirin & Related
ABA unknown
ABA known
ASA unknown
ASA known
aspirin known
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Safe fairly safe neutral fairly unsafe unsafe
With thanks to…Project Students: Zaynah Farak and Harriet Holt,
Dr Richard Waller & 1st year Geography Students1st year Chemistry Students
Underpinning Ideas• What do you do when the fundamental concepts of your
discipine are misunderstood?
• But how do you know they are misunderstood before it is too late?
“The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows.”--Ausbel
Diagnostic Test vs Concept InventoryA series of short questions designed to find out what the learner already knows.
A series of short questions designed to test knowledge of concepts.
Misconception
Threshold Concept
Confirmation Bias
https://apileofsheep.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/knotted-steeks-anyone/
Misconception-based learning replaces a myth with a fact by explaining the origin and fallacy of the misconception. Created by John Cookhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/dec/23/scientists-connect-dots-identifying-preventing-dangerous-climate-risks.
topic and concept
analyse student work to find misconceptions
which misconceptions are most common?
multiple choice questions (MCQ) with effective distractors
MCQ on colleagues and students
MCQ but allow free text explanations
PICKID
FOCUSWRITE
TESTUSEInitial Process
1. A photon of which colour of light carries the most energy?
A Red
B Yellow
C Green
D Blue
E All photons have the same energy
Please rate how confident you are in your answer:
Please explain your answer:
Not confident at all Extremely confident
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Analysis (2nd Year, N = 48)
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q100
20
40
60
80
100
% co
rrec
t
Confidence
1 2 3 4 5 6 705
10152025
Q3(27/48 Correct)
1 2 3 4 5 6 705
10152025
Q 5(48/48 correct)
1 – not confident at all7 – very confident
1 2 3 4 5 6 705
10152025
Q 5(48/48 correct)
Knowledge Scenario Phrasing QuestionPrior Known FamiliarPrior Unknown Familiar Q5Prior Known Unfamiliar Q3Prior Unknown UnfamiliarNew Unknown FamiliarNew Unknown Unfamiliar Q8
Thinking through Questions
Topic, conduct literature survey
create concept map to explore topic and identify key concepts
which misconceptions are most common?
multiple choice questions (MCQ) with effective distractors
MCQ on colleagues and students
MCQ but allow free text explanations
PICKMAP
IDWRITE
TESTUSEImproved Process
Electromagnetic Radiation
Spectrum
radio microwave infrared visible
red orange yellow green blueindigo/violet
ultra-violet X-ray gamma ray
Particle
photon
energy
Wave
frequency
wavelength
wavenumberSpeed of Light
Evaluate Scores
Summarise free text
responses (coding)
Evaluate Question
Improve Question
Do Question
Next Steps
Statistics….
With thanks to…Prof. Simon Lancaster, Prof. Paul Taylor, Prof. David Read, Dr Natalie Rowley, Dr Paul Duckmanton, Dr Suzanne Fergus
1st Year Chemistry 15/162nd Year Chemistry 15/16
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