Chemistry is an experimental discipline that uses experimentation as one of its most important research methods. Laboratory work and other practical work are therefore also essential in chemistry lessons. Chemistry demonstrations are used by teachers as an educational approach that can increase students' interest in chemistry and motivate them to…

Although many chemistry demonstrations are proposed in educational literature, there are hardly any studies on how demonstrations should be set up in order to support students' perception. Against this background, the aim of the present study was to present and test setup principles for chemistry demonstrations, with regards to indicators of…

The remote screen control feature in Zoom was used to remotely control instrumentation during an online summer chemistry enrichment session for high school students. This feature was used to draw students into actively participating in chemistry demonstrations where instrumentation was used to gather and analyze data. It can be a challenge to keep…

Although demonstrations play a central role in teaching and learning chemistry, the effects of concrete setup principles have rarely been subject to systematic empirical studies. According to the left-to-right principle, the educator should begin with the first step of a reaction in the upper left part of the setup and then place the following…

Chemistry curricula in part rely on the use of laboratory demonstrations and experiments. The complex nature of this kind of educational activity has been posing challenges from the very early days of teaching chemistry. As chemistry is an experimental science, one possible approach to make the teaching of this subject more efficient is to use…

Given the emphasis on community engagement in higher education, academic departments need to become more involved in the community. This paper discusses a number of outreach activities undertaken by the chemistry department at Rhodes University, South Africa. The activities range from service learning to community engagement with teachers and…

This article describes the use of a comprehensive demonstration suitable for a high school or first-year undergraduate introductory chemistry class. The demonstration involves placing a burning candle in a container adjacent to a beaker containing a basic solution with indicator. After adding a lid, the candle will extinguish and the produced…

In this study we explored whether the use of teachers' demonstrations significantly improves students' understanding of redox reactions compared with control group counterparts who were not exposed to the demonstrations. The sample consisted of 131 Israeli 8th graders in middle schools (junior high school). Students' attitudes and achievements as…

Students' attitude towards a subject is a key indicator of academic performance, therefore its enhancement is imperative for academic success. A sample of 328 grade eleven students was selected using cluster random sampling. Two different study groups; the experimental and control groups, were composed and exposed to the guided inquiry and…

The study investigated the effect of teachers' instructional methods on students learning outcomes in selected senior secondary school in Kaduna, Nigeria Two instructional methods (Demonstration and Lecture) were used on target population of one thousand nine hundred and eleven (1,911) senior secondary (S.S. II) Science Students. The sample…

Structure-property reasoning (SPR) is one of the most important aims of chemistry education but is seldom explicitly taught, and students find structure-property reasoning difficult. This study assessed two design principles for the development of structure-property reasoning in the context of demonstrations: (1) use of a POE task…

Fast, reliable, well-resolved latent fingerprints can be planted by applying a thin coating of a 50:50 mixture of hand lotion and food-grade protein powder. Fingerprints can be revealed with iodine fuming or ninhydrin staining. This low-cost alternative to commercial latent print pads can be used in a variety of classroom or public settings where…

In accordance with the requirements for the National Curriculum Statement for both Life sciences and Physical sciences and the importance of community engagement in Higher Education in South Africa, this paper described the use of the lecture-demonstration "A Pollutant's Tale" to create climate change awareness amongst school learners.…

The International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in 2019 provided a perfect opportunity to implement community engagement activities that repositioned the public image of chemistry, from one detrimentally linked to the long-term impacts of its previous achievements such as plastic waste and polluting industrial plants to one that…

The nature of acidic and basic (alkaline) oxides can be easily illustrated via a series of three straightforward classroom demonstrations for high school and general chemistry courses. Properties of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and magnesium oxide are revealed inexpensively and safely. Additionally, the very different kinetics of hydration of…