Bridging students’ experience of learning

chemistry

The chemistry course

• NQF Level 4 – 12 credits• Equivalent to NZ Year 12• 54 hours class contact time delivered over 18 weeks• One 90 minute lab session per week• Designed for students pathwaying into nursing, teaching

or engineering degrees• 90% of students are female and studying towards

nursing• A grade of B or better is needed for entry to a BN degree

Participants’ backgrounds

ParticipantPseudonym

Age Ethnicity

Mele 45 Samoan

Ngaire 35 NZ Maori

John 27 Samoan

Tina 25 Samoan

Ruby 22 NZ Maori

Anh 21 Vietnamese

Elizabeth 21 Samoan

Suli 20 Tongan

Annie 19 South African

Maggie 19 NZ European

Nisha 18 Indian

Indira 17 Indian

Changing Ethnicity of Chemistry Students

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2000 2003 2007

%

NZ European

Maori

Pasifika

Indian

Other

Strongly Disagree432Strongly Agree

25

20

15

10

5

0

Fre

que

ncy

Positive attitudes at the start of the course

Responses to the question: I am well prepared for studying chemistry this semester (n = 62)

Participant Outcome (final) grade

Maggie A (89%)

Ruby A- (84%)

Anh B+ (78%)

Annie C- (51%)

Indira E (25%)

Mele ANA (Aegrotat not approved)

John W (Withdrawn)

Elizabeth NC (Did not complete)

Ngaire NC

Nisha NC

Suli NC

Tina NC

Participants’ outcomes

Diagram of glucose Diagram of cholesterol

Investigating learning in organic chemistry

m÷

n x M

Formulaic triangle provided in assessments to assist students with mole calculations where n = number of moles; M = relative molar mass or relative molecular weight and m = mass (in grams)

Investigating learning of mole concepts

Able to convert grams ↔ moles

Able to calculate amounts using a stoichiometric

equation

Able to explain why chemists use the mole

Maggie Yes Yes In partRuby Yes Yes In partAnh Yes Yes NoIndira Yes* No NoAnnie Yes* No NoNgaire Unknown Unknown NoMele No No No

Participants’ later understandings of the mole

* Not confirmed on inspection of exam scripts

Investigating understanding of concentration (1)

Which is bigger?

0.15 mol/L or 0.2 mol/L.

Investigating understanding of concentration (2)

In chemistry you have to sort of think, you can’t really visualise or anything, although I find with chemistry it is more memorising you know.Researcher - There is a lot of memory work?Yeah you just have to rote learn it. (Anh, 16 November)

The hardest was heat exchange. It is probably like the easiest thing, but it just confused me. … As soon as I got into my exam I wrote it down otherwise it would confuse me later.

(Maggie, 5 December)

Reliance on memorisation and rote learning – Fatima’s Rules (Larson, 1995)

Um – titrations.Researcher – That was easy for you?Yes – like I practiced it [the calculations] quite a bit and got the hang of it and it was quite easy.Researcher – So you got a good mark for that?Yes I got 13 out of 15.Researcher – That’s good because you struggled with moles, didn’t you?Yes I still don’t understand anything to do with moles but somehow titration was easy for me. (Annie, 28 November)

Analysis of learning experiences through the lens of border crossing

Science has a distinct culture of language and values (Ziman 2000)

Learning in science can be seen as an initiation into a new culture – a cross-cultural activity (Cobern and Aikenhead (1998)

Students must travel from their everyday life-world to the world of science found in their science classroom (Jegede and Aikenhead 1999, p.46)

Students might experience these border crossings in 4 ways (Costa, 1995)

Smooth Managed Hazardous Virtually Impossiblecongruent worlds different worlds diverse worlds discordant worlds in which students resist

Maggie Mele Indira Annie (initial)Ruby Annie (end)Anh

Border crossing transitions

I didn’t get it and I didn’t like it because I didn’t get it and I thought it was pointless. (Annie, 7 August)

Yeah actually it was kind of surprising. It was like someone turned a light on. Like at the end of last term it was OK but it just kind of clicked [sound of snapping fingers] (Ruby, 31 October)

Border crossing transitions