An Exploration-Based Activity to Facilitate Students' Construction of Molecular Symmetry Concepts

Autor/inn/en	Rattanapirun, Narapat; Laosinchai, Parames
Titel	An Exploration-Based Activity to Facilitate Students' Construction of Molecular Symmetry Concepts
Quelle	In: Journal of Chemical Education, 98 (2021) 7, S.2333-2340 (8 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Rattanapirun, Narapat)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0021-9584
DOI	10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00191
Schlagwörter	Chemistry; Molecular Structure; College Science; College Students; Scientific Concepts; Mathematical Concepts; Manipulative Materials; Learning Activities; Hands on Science; Science Process Skills + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Chemie; Collegestudent; Hilfsmittel; Lernaktivität
Abstract	Molecular symmetry is a topic that requires mental manipulation of molecules when searching for symmetry elements and their corresponding symmetry operations. Such mental activities are difficult for students in a traditional classroom where only definitions and demonstrations are provided. Therefore, an exploration-based activity was developed to help university chemistry students construct molecular symmetry concepts. Since symmetry is a mathematical concept, Pirie and Kieren's model of growth of mathematical understanding was used as the framework to design the activity. Each task allowed students to self-construct the meaning of symmetry by performing an operation on 2D figures and/or 3D manipulatives. The activity was designed for students without a background in molecular symmetry and conducted at two public universities. In class, the students went through stages of understanding that were consistent with those in the model. The results from the conceptual test confirmed that they were able to apply the learned concepts to identify the symmetry elements and symmetry operations of the given molecules. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01