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