Problem solving in chemical kinetics poses substantial challenges for university students since it often involves significant use of mathematics as a tool and language, with challenging translations and transitions between chemical phenomena and mathematical representations. In this paper, we present key findings from a study investigating…

This study aimed to analyze second-semester organic chemistry students' problem-solving strategies, specifically focusing on the resources activated while solving problems on E2, E1, and E1cB elimination reactions. Using the theoretical framework by Elby and Hammer, we defined a resource as a unit of information used in the problem-solving…

When teaching STEM courses, it is important to introduce state-of-the-art techniques. Students need to learn how to conduct experiments, analyse data and choose the most effective approaches to address meaningful situations. Here we present the assessment of the implementation of a structured inquiry-based activity aimed at teaching students about…

Students are known to have various difficulties in dealing with organic reaction mechanisms. A systematic classification of these difficulties appears necessary to design appropriate support. This paper presents insights into whether and how Bloom's revised taxonomy can be used to classify student difficulties in dealing with organic reaction…

Problem solving is a key component of authentic scientific research and practice in organic chemistry. One factor that has been shown to have a major role in successful problem solving in a variety of disciplines is metacognitive regulation, defined as the control of one's thought processes through the use of planning, monitoring, and evaluation…

Problem solving is a fundamental skill that chemistry graduates should possess, yet many students have difficulties solving problems in chemistry. These difficulties may be either student- or instructor-driven. Instructor-related difficulties could stem from some teaching practices, such as expecting students to apply procedures without requiring…

The questions in the practice assignments given to students in the form of worksheets or other formats are often grouped by chapter, topic, or concepts. There is a great emphasis on categorization. Most of the end-of-chapter problems in chemistry textbooks are organized by sections. Although this was done with the intention of helping students…

Productive problem solving, concept construction, and sense making occur through the core process of abstraction. Although the capacity for domain-general abstraction is developed at a young age, the role of abstraction in increasingly complex and disciplinary environments, such as those encountered in undergraduate STEM education, is not well…

Building scientific arguments is a central ability for all scientists regardless of their specific domain. In organic chemistry, building arguments is a necessary skill to estimate reaction processes in consideration of the reactivities of reaction centres or the chemical and physical properties. Moreover, building arguments for multiple reaction…

Research in Organic Chemistry education has revealed students' challenges in mechanistic reasoning. When solving mechanistic tasks, students tend to focus on explicit surface features, apply fragmented conceptual knowledge, rely on rote-memorization and, hence, often struggle to build well-grounded causal explanations. When taking a resource…

This article seeks to provide researchers and practitioners in laboratory education, particularly those involved in the curriculum design and implementation of teaching laboratories at university level, with a conceptual framework and a working model for an integrated assessment of learning domains, by attending to a more holistic approach to…

A method is adapted for calculating two measures of entropy for gaze transitions to summarize and statistically compare eye-tracking data. A review of related eye-tracking studies sets the context for this approach. We argue that entropy analysis captures rich data that allows for robust statistical comparisons and can be used for more subtle…

A central practice in the discipline of organic chemistry is the ability to solve certain fundamental problems, including predicting reactivity, proposing mechanisms, and designing syntheses. These problems are encountered frequently by both students and practitioners, who need to utilize vast amounts of content knowledge in specific ways to…

Emphasizing stoichiometry appears to be a norm of introductory chemistry courses. In this longitudinal and mixed-methods study, we examined how the emphasis on stoichiometry in assessments of introductory chemistry impacted educational equity and student learning. Using quantitative methods, we identified mole and stoichiometric conversions as two…

Reasoning about organic chemistry reaction mechanisms requires engagement with multiple concepts and necessitates balancing the relative influence of different chemical properties. A goal of organic chemistry instruction is to support students with engaging in this type of reasoning. In this study, we describe our use of case comparison problems…