problem solving

Activities to Promote Higher-Order Thinking in Virtual Asynchronous Chemistry Learning

The 2020 global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 forced millions of teachers to switch from in-person to online instruction. With minimal training in online teaching, many substandard learning environments were quickly rolled out. In this post, the author describes two metacognitive learning activities that are easy to incorporate into an online learning environment.

What’s going on inside their head? - Student-made videos for metacognitive problem solving

Metacognition is a learner-focused evaluation of knowledge growth and an essential process for complete and lasting knowledge. Although virtual learning environments pose challenges for facilitating metacognitive activities, student-made videos are effective for increasing metacognition in online chemistry instruction.

Metabolic Marvels of Bear Hibernation- Part 2

The post-Thanksgiving excessive calorie-consumption 'blues' have arrived. How is it possible to eat so much? For a bear, it's easy. Easy as pie. Bears are champion eaters, spending about half the year eating non-stop in preparation for winter's foodless landscape. How can this calorie consumption observation about the bear world be used to teach certain chemistry concepts routinely covered? This post includes discussion and two classroom activities about the following common general chemistry topics/concepts- thermochemistry, unit conversions, and interpretation of numerical data. Enjoy...

Cognitive Load and Active Learning

A couple of days ago on Twitter, the ever-lasting debate between lecture and active learning reignited due to some talks at an Educational Research Conference held in Dublin. These talks stated direct guidance (which includes lecture) was superior in terms of student learning due its reduction of students’ cognitive load. The main citation used for this argument was an article by Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark published in 2006. So, let’s dive into what this article says.