Making It Clear: Exploring Crystal Structures by Constructing and Comparing See-Through Models

Autor/inn/en	Lenzer, Stefanie; Smarsly, Bernd; Graulich, Nicole
Titel	Making It Clear: Exploring Crystal Structures by Constructing and Comparing See-Through Models
Quelle	In: Journal of Chemical Education, 96 (2019) 8, S.1630-1639 (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Lenzer, Stefanie) ORCID (Smarsly, Bernd) ORCID (Graulich, Nicole)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0021-9584
Schlagwörter	Inorganic Chemistry; Physical Sciences; Science Instruction; Models; Science Activities; Undergraduate Students; College Science; Hands on Science + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Anorganische Chemie; Natural sciences; Naturwissenschaften; Naturwissenschaft; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Analogiemodell
Abstract	Acquiring a basic understanding about the composition of crystal structures and the resulting structure-property relationship is central for chemists and material chemists, enabling the prediction of desired properties and the solution of a wide range of current challenges in sciences, e.g., the development of clean-energy storage. For a deeper understanding of physical and chemical properties of crystals, it is necessary to focus on different global and local structural features that characterize the composition of several atoms or ions as well as the direct environment of single atoms or ions. To improve students' mental visualization of both global and local features of the three-dimensional order of crystal structures, we developed and implemented a modeling activity with new transparent models. During the activity, students construct and compare models of common crystal structures, like sodium chloride and zinc blend. The usage of clear plastic balls, in particular, allows students to focus on global features such as packing arrangement and lattice structure, as well as on local ones, like coordination number, site occupation, and polyhedral connectivity. The latter features have been difficult to realize so far. We used a design-based research approach to improve the activity and the instructional material, provided herein, through several rounds of evaluation in a course for undergraduate students in materials chemistry. A detailed qualitative analysis of students' discourse during the activity revealed that students were engaged in various content-related interactions with the models and that it is beneficial to combine a student-centered construction of the models with a subsequent comparison phase. (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	2020/1/01