Every day, one new peer-reviewed research article from any ACS journal will be selected to be freely available and remain open access for all to read. These articles are selected based upon recommendations by editors of ACS Journals and made available as a service to the global research community.
“What we Call Misconceptions May be Necessary Stepping Stones Toward Making Sense of the World” is an article identifying how misconceptions can be turned into sense-making exercises and classroom conversations to help students come to meaningful, and eventually “correct” views of scientific concepts.
Typically we think that the wear and tear of automobiles on the roads causes concrete roads to deteriorate, eventually causing potholes and requiring the use of patching. Regular maintenance, like patching, gets expensive over time. If we were to zoom in on a microscopic level we’d see microscopic cracks that allow in water, salts, and ice. Since ice has the ability to expand, the tiny little cracks will become big noticeable cracks.
What motivates our students to excel in understanding chemistry? For some students, they would like to pursue a career in a science related field while others are extrinsically motivated for a particular grade or graduation credit.
Have you ever wondered why so many undergraduate students struggle with their general chemistry courses in college? Various research studies report that a third of college students taking a STEM related course will either fail, with a D or F, or withdraw from the course with the rate increasing if one focuses on general chemistry specific courses.
The Journal of Chemical Education AP Special Issue is in print. Greg Rushton and I were happy to highlight the special issue for high school chemistry teachers and other stake holders at BCCE in August. If you haven't already taken a look at the articles, I hope you will find some time to check them out. I encourage you to read the first article of the following list.
The fact that spacecrafts Pioneer 10 and 11 are not moving quite as fast as they were predicted to, has led to speculation that there might be something wrong with general relativity. Einstein may be dead, but his concepts still reign.
