Event Title

ChemToy2: A New Approach to Study the Power of Scientific Observation

Presenter Information

Andrew K. Parker
Emily T. Danielson

Loading...

Media is loading
 

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Date of Publication

4-17-2020

Abstract

The power of observation, an ability of all people, is especially important in the pursuit of science; observation is the origin and heart of the Scientific Method. In our previous work on ChemToy1 (M.F. Terra and S.D. Black (2019) J. Chem. Educ. 96, 1431-1437) we found that this new educational tool could quantify power of observation and improve it. We also found that college science majors scored only 36.1 ± 14.3%. We continued this research with the development of ChemToy2. ChemToy1 was based on sugar redox chemistry, whereas ChemToy2 employs nanochemistry. ChemToy2 exhibits 41 fundamental observations over the one-week observation period during which students examine it and record all observations they see. Possible observations include the states of matter, a myriad of colors, the Tyndall Effect, gradients, and discontinuity. All these effects are caused by gold and silver nanoparticles. Performance of the Toy with over 110 students will be discussed.

Keywords

chemistry, observation, nanochemistry

Persistent Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/2531

Share

COinS
 
Apr 17th, 12:00 AM Apr 17th, 12:00 AM

ChemToy2: A New Approach to Study the Power of Scientific Observation

The power of observation, an ability of all people, is especially important in the pursuit of science; observation is the origin and heart of the Scientific Method. In our previous work on ChemToy1 (M.F. Terra and S.D. Black (2019) J. Chem. Educ. 96, 1431-1437) we found that this new educational tool could quantify power of observation and improve it. We also found that college science majors scored only 36.1 ± 14.3%. We continued this research with the development of ChemToy2. ChemToy1 was based on sugar redox chemistry, whereas ChemToy2 employs nanochemistry. ChemToy2 exhibits 41 fundamental observations over the one-week observation period during which students examine it and record all observations they see. Possible observations include the states of matter, a myriad of colors, the Tyndall Effect, gradients, and discontinuity. All these effects are caused by gold and silver nanoparticles. Performance of the Toy with over 110 students will be discussed.