Journal of Chemical Education最新文献

{"title":"Building and Implementing a Comprehensive Chemistry Experiment Based on Cutting-Edge Research: Synthesis and Application of a Luminescent Iridium Complex","authors":"Zhongming Song,&nbsp;Wanwan Yao,&nbsp;Hongyuan Zhao","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00921","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00921","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Guidedby the idea of “research-led teaching”, thisstudy turns advanced research on organometallic iridium complexesinto a complete lab course for senior undergraduates. The course focuseson an ionic iridium complex modified with polyether and alkyl chains.The teaching module covers ligand synthesis, complex construction,structural characterization, photophysical studies, and fabricationof polymer-hosted phosphorescent films. These films are widely usedin solid-state lighting, luminescent sensors, and anticounterfeitinglabels. This paper details the step-by-step synthesis and preparationof luminescent composite films cast on glass substrates using a sodiumcarboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and sodium alginate (SA) matrix. Teachingpractice shows this course connects synthetic chemistry, coordinationchemistry, spectroscopy, and materials processing, effectively improvingstudents’ experimental skills, scientific thinking, and innovation.Overall, this work provides a practical model for updating chemistrylab courses.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5989–5994"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CSI:Nottingham: A Context-Based Practical Skills Consolidation Activity in Chemistry","authors":"Anna Bertram,&nbsp;Charlotte A. Clark,&nbsp;Kyle W. Galloway,&nbsp;Andrew Nortcliffe,&nbsp;Oscar Siles Brügge","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00741","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00741","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Developing confidence in practical chemistry requiresopportunitiesto consolidate core laboratory skills while fostering higher-orderthinking. <em>CSI:Nottingham</em> is a context-based, gamifiedactivity for second-year undergraduates that supports the transitionfrom structured experiments to inquiry-led research. Framed as anenvironmental crime investigation, students work in teams to synthesizemetal salen complexes, interpret spectroscopic data, and perform quantitativeUV/vis analysis, applying familiar techniques in a novel context.The activity incorporates metacognitive elements, including evaluativejudgment and self-regulation, alongside a fictional currency systemto promote strategic decision-making. Analysis of pre- and postactivitysurveys (<em>n</em> ≈ 115) showed significant increasesin self-reported confidence across advanced practical skills, datainterpretation, and problem-solving, with several outcomes showinglarge effect sizes (rank-biserial correlation &gt; 0.6). These findingssuggest that immersive, context-based approaches provide an effectiveenvironment for students to build confidence in the application oftechnical skills prior to more independent laboratory practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5698–5706"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Upgrading Smartphone RGB Colorimetry for Rapid Determination of Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition Kinetics","authors":"Zhuodong Ou,&nbsp;Fuxuan Li,&nbsp;Weijie Yang,&nbsp;Faqiong Zhao,&nbsp;Haibo Zhang","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01468","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The determination of the pseudo-first-order rate constant(<em>k</em>) for the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxideis a fundamental experiment in general chemistry education. Traditionaltitration or gas-volumetric methods are laborious, require substantialreagents, and often yield inconsistent results. Inspired by the principlesof intelligent chemistry (i.e., the integration of smart-device-basedmeasurement and automated data analysis), we present an enhanced methodologythat integrates the potassium titanyloxalate–H₂O₂ color-forming system with smartphone-based RGB blue-channelanalysis. This experiment was implemented with 28 undergraduate students,who successfully determined activation energy using only a smartphoneand a Python script. The color of this orange-yellow complex exhibitsa broad absorption spectrum in the range of 430–470 nm (B channel).A linear calibration curve (<em>R</em>² = 0.9902,0.1–1.5 mM) was established by correlating the B value (i.e.,this is the blue value in the RGB image) with the concentration ofH₂O₂. Sequential images captured throughoutthe reaction process provided concentration–time profiles thatwere analyzed with first-order kinetics. Activation energy (<em>E</em>_a), calculated from the Arrhenius plot (ln <em>k</em> vs 1/<em>T</em>) at temperatures ranging from5–45 °C, was 44.8 ± 2.4 kJ mol^–1, showing excellent consistency with the value determined by UV–Visspectrophotometry (44.8 ± 0.07 kJ mol^–1). Comparedto titration and gas-volumetric methods, our method eliminates specializedapparatus requirements, reduces the experimental duration to approximately45 min, markedly decreases reagent consumption, and improves reproducibility(RSD &lt; 5%). Translating to a sustainable and scalable learningexperience, this cost-effective, digitalized procedure transformsthe undergraduate kinetics laboratory into an active learning environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5747–5754"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Myriad of Ways That Building and Construction Connect to Chemistry","authors":"Thomas Holme","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c01505","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c01505","url":null,"abstract":"<p>NationalChemistry Week arises every October, and this year thetheme is “Chemistry Under Construction” with a lookat the chemistry materials commonly used in construction. This areapresents a number of opportunities for learning the chemistry of materialsas distinctive as concrete and wood. This editorial also connectsto a collection of articles from the Journal related to constructionto provide ideas to interested teachers looking for National ChemistryWeek activities.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5215–5216"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating Reaction Mechanism Explanation Sophistication Across a Yearlong Organic Chemistry Course Sequence","authors":"Caroline J. Crowder,&nbsp;Jeffrey R. Raker","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00877","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00877","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mechanistic reasoning is a centralcomponent of organic chemistrylearning; however, relatively little is known about how learners’mechanistic explanations develop and change over time. The work reportedherein examined longitudinal changes in learners’ explanationsophistication for reaction mechanisms across a two-semester organicchemistry sequence. A total of 5,942 explanations were collected from913 learners across 30 reaction mechanisms; learner explanations wereevaluated using previously developed level of explanation sophisticationrubrics for nucleophiles and electrophiles, comprising four levels: <em>Absent</em>, <em>Descriptive</em>, <em>Foundational</em>, and <em>Complex</em>. Bayesian cumulative logit mixed-effectsmodels were used to investigate changes in explanation sophisticationacross instructional time points and to examine relationships betweenexplanation sophistication and reaction type and course performance.Results indicate modest increases in nucleophile explanation sophisticationacross the instructional sequence, whereas electrophile explanationsophistication remained relatively consistent. Although explanationsophistication was found to vary across reaction types, overall longitudinaltrends for nucleophiles and electrophiles were mostly consistent.Relationships between explanation sophistication and course performancewere present but weak. These findings suggest that development ofsophisticated explanations may occur gradually and differently acrossmechanistic components and reaction contexts. More broadly, this workcontributes to understanding how learners develop the language andexplanatory practices of organic chemistry, highlighting the needfor instructional approaches and future research that supports thelong-term development of mechanistic reasoning.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5409–5421"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-Regulated Learning and Chemistry Mindset as Predictors of General Chemistry Performance: Evidence from Natural Sciences and Engineering Majors in Turkey","authors":"Betül Demirdöǧen,&nbsp;Esen Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci,&nbsp;Jacob D. McAlpin,&nbsp;Jennifer E. Lewis","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00689","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00689","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Introductory chemistry courses present significant challengesforundergraduate students, and understanding the factors that supportor hinder performance remains an active area of inquiry. This studyexamined the construct validity of the Motivated Strategies for LearningQuestionnaire (MSLQ) and investigated the extent to which self-regulationstrategies and chemistry mindsets predict exam performance among naturalsciences and engineering majors enrolled in general chemistry coursesat a large research-intensive university in Turkey. A total of 871students completed a 45-item version of the MSLQ and the ChemistryMindset Instrument (CheMI) during the Spring 2024 semester. Confirmatoryfactor analysis supported a four second-order factor structure: individuallearning strategies, metacognitive self-regulation, social learningstrategies, and effort and environment regulation strategies. Regressionanalyses revealed that prior exam performance was the strongest predictorof subsequent achievement in both of the course contexts. Among theMSLQ factors, social learning strategies were uniquely predictivefor students enrolled in the course for natural science majors, whileeffort and environment regulation strategies were uniquely predictivefor students enrolled in the course for engineering majors. The chemistrymindset did not contribute unique predictive variance beyond priorperformance in either group. These findings underscore the context-dependentnature of self-regulated learning in chemistry and suggest that targetedinstructional supports such as peer learning programs for studentsin the course for natural science majors and time management interventionsfor students in the course for engineering majors may better alignwith students’ distinct regulatory needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5394–5408"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating Values Education into Undergraduate Chemistry Curricula: A Review","authors":"Guilai Han,&nbsp;Haixia Li","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01490","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Thisstudy systematically explores integration pathways and assessmentmethods for values education in undergraduate chemistry curriculato facilitate effective implementation. Following the PRISMA (PreferredReporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework,we screened and analyzed 63 peer-reviewed publications from 2016 to2025 indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, and two targeted chemistryeducation journals, focusing exclusively on values education in undergraduatechemistry courses. The results reveal that scientific thinking (encompassingscientific inquiry, technical literacy, engineering design, and mathematicalthinking) emerges as the most extensively researched domain, followedby ethical and ideal belief education. As a complementary perspective,chemical comprehensive literacy covers eight dimensions, includingthinking ability, learning ability, innovative practical ability,and social ethical responsibility, with thinking ability as the focus.However, academic integrity and cultural literacy remain under-studied.In terms of values education integration carriers, experiments serveas the primary carrier, followed by chemistry outline, open-endedquestions, calculation, and case-based learning, while innovativetools such as AI-assisted methods remain underutilized. Regardingassessment practices, final investigation assessments dominate, followedby evaluation tools and pre- and postinvestigations. Additionally,most included studies lack a stratified analysis of intervention effectson marginalized student groups. These findings highlight criticalgaps in current value education implementation, emphasizing the needfor expanded research on neglected domains and validated assessmentsystems to advance value education in chemistry curricula.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5504–5514"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping High School Students’ Thinking Patterns in Substance Description and Identification Problems: A Perspective-Based Analysis","authors":"Ming Chi,&nbsp;Tianyi Zhang,&nbsp;Fangrui Cao,&nbsp;Changlong Zheng","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c00302","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understandinghow students reason when solving substancedescriptionand identification (D&amp;I) problems is foundational to fosteringtheir chemical thinking. This study employs the theoretical lens of“perspectives” to characterize the diversity and organizationof students’ thinking in D&amp;I tasks. Using qualitative contentanalysis, we examined 634 analytical units from semistructured interviewswith 18 tenth-grade students through deductive-inductive analysisand cross-category comparison. Responses were initially organizedinto four analytical categories: Chemical Perspectives, InterdisciplinaryPerspectives, Personal Perspectives, and Unidentified Perspectives.Findings indicate that students most frequently employed chemicalperspectives (55.9%), followed by unidentified perspectives (23.2%)and personal perspectives (15.8%); interdisciplinary perspectiveswere the least common (5.1%). Subcategories were further delineatedwithin each category: chemical perspectives included implicit, explicit,and structured forms; interdisciplinary perspectives primarily manifestedas biological perspective; personal perspectives were divided intodailylife and school-life experiences; and unidentified perspectivesencompassed heuristic, test-taking schema, and knowledge retrievalapproaches. Cross-category comparison showed that these patterns highlighteddifferent aspects of students’ reasoning and revealed fourunderlying dimensions: the assumptions or attributes orienting attention,the sources of knowledge and experience, the types of reasoning employed,and the explicitness and organization of students’ ideas. Collectively,the initial categories and underlying dimensions provide an integratedaccount of students’ D&amp;I thinking by characterizing theoverall direction of their problem framing and the features throughwhich their responses are constructed and expressed. These findingssuggest that instruction should support students in developing productiveperspectives and recognizing, evaluating, and coordinating diverseperspectives, knowledge resources, and reasoning processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5317–5329"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teaching Coherent Chemical Hazard Reasoning with a Pathway-Based RAMP Safety Module: Sodium Azide as a Scalable Anchor Case","authors":"Song Liu,&nbsp;Yan Zhao,&nbsp;Feng Xu","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01843","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Chemical safety instruction often presents laboratoryhazards asstatic properties communicated through Safety Data Sheets (SDS) andhazard labels. This framing can lead students to apply the Recognize-Assess-Minimize-Prepare(RAMP) framework as a procedural checklist, limiting its use as atool for causal reasoning. This article presents a single-case, scalablesafety module that uses sodium azide (NaN₃) as an anchorcase for pathway-based RAMP reasoning. In this context, scalabilitymeans that the module can be adapted across undergraduate and graduatesettings by adjusting the pace, emphasis, and expected depth of hazardreasoning. NaN₃ was selected because its SDS classificationsdiffer sharply between solid and dilute forms. Although acute toxicitywarnings diminish upon dilution, reactivity hazards may still emergethrough acidification, contact with metal-containing materials orresidues, and confinement. This discrepancy prompted students to reconsiderSDS-based safety judgments and to reason about hazard behavior throughexplicit chemical pathways. The module aligns RAMP instruction withthe logic of Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) by asking how hazards mayemerge when chemical conditions, materials, or procedures change.Undergraduate use emphasizes foundational hazard recognition and exposure-basedrisk assessment, whereas graduate-level use emphasizes what-if reasoning,SOP-oriented controls, and transfer to other reactive systems. Overall,this work illustrates how a focused anchor case can move safety educationbeyond checklist compliance and support coherent, pathway-based hazardreasoning for chemical systems in which risk emerges from reactivityand under changing laboratory conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"5546–5554"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Guiding Students to Use Spectroscopy to Determine Ligand Coordination Mode in a Cobalt(III) Acetylacetonate Complex","authors":"Janet L. Shaw","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c01046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6c01046","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Four inquiry-style activities involving the synthesisand analysisof cobalt acetylacetonate were developed, implemented, and evaluatedin an upper-level, undergraduate inorganic chemistry laboratory course.Throughout the two-week laboratory experiment, students are directedvia scaffolded worksheets to answer the guiding question: how canspectroscopy be used to determine the coordination mode of a ligandto a metal center? Cooperative learning, student self-efficacy, andconcept development and retention were assessed over a two-semesterperiod in four sections of the course. The students worked effectivelyas teams during these activities by staying focused, communicating,and working collaboratively, and student self-efficacy with respectto confidence, engagement, and/or scientific ability was positivelyinfluenced. When working in teams, students were able to use ¹H NMR and IR spectroscopic evidence to predict the coordinationmode of 2,4-pentanedione to the cobalt(III) center but struggled withconcept retention on the cumulative laboratory course final exam.Adoption of this lab experiment can serve to promote student engagement,interpersonal process skills, and student self-efficacy.</p>","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":"103 10","pages":"6013–6020"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149173645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}