Kylee George & Dr. Ariel Vaughn
Abstract
There has long been an evident disconnect between the material taught in undergraduate general chemistry courses and its real world applications. A specific barrier to this understanding is created by scientific language, or jargon, as students are not specifically taught how to read scientific literature or write well scientifically. In this study, a weekly survey was sent to general chemistry students asking, “How have you seen chemistry outside of the classroom this week?” The data for this study consists of responses from 44 students in a flipped classroom of first semester general chemistry. Qualitative data was collected and will be analyzed to identify how students perceived chemistry outside of the classroom. By asking students to identify chemistry outside of the classroom each week, students will begin to recognize that chemistry is a phenomenon happening everywhere in the world around them. This shift in perspective will allow students to see themselves as chemists. The NVivo 12 Pro system will be used to code the responses into various categories, including the use of scientific language. Analysis of this data is currently underway. It is anticipated that as the semester progresses, students will use scientific jargon more frequently. This will reflect an increase in their understanding of, and comfortability with, chemistry both inside and outside of the classroom. Language plays an active role in the development and communication of ideas; it is not merely a passive way to convey information. The role of a scientist is to just that – develop and communicate new ideas. Thus, the goal of this project is to gauge the impact this assignment has on students’ understanding of scientific language in general chemistry.
Details
Session 2
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Grand Salon
HSI-SMART
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