Exploring Adaptations of the VisChem Approach: Advancements and Anchors toward Particle-Level Explanations

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been imperative for informing many facets of the chemistry education research field, one of which includes the professional development (PD) of high school teachers. While many researchers and practitioners have responded to the NGSS' calls for reform by attending to internal factors that influence the PD's design, resources, and facilitation, there is less attention on extant factors that may negatively affect PD uptake and fidelity. Such factors encompass traditions of teaching chemistry or chemistry-related imprecisions within the NGSS themselves. If left unaddressed, these factors can act as anchors preventing advancements toward students' particle-level explanations and their chemistry conceptual understanding. In this article, we investigate the uptake and fidelity of our own PD program known as the VisChem Institute. The data are comprised of PD participants' learning designs (i.e., lesson plans) collected from the 2020 cohort (N = 20) and the 2021 cohort (N = 15). Results show that, although there was uptake in terms of the particulate level among participants' learning designs, more detail was ascribed to the description of molecular-level species rather than the explanation of relevant processes. Furthermore, an ontological analysis revealed that interpretations of evidence and models for description as well as symbolic heuristics for explanation may account for the VisChem approach's distortion in its translation to participants' learning designs. Implications and recommendations for chemistry instruction and research at both secondary and undergraduate levels are discussed.

Secondary chemistry teacher learning: precursors for and mechanisms of pedagogical conceptual change

“…Despite studies stressing the teaching of molecular-level entities and their roles in causal mechanisms (Cooper et al, 2017;Crandell et al, 2020), chemistry instruction (in the case of Teacher 102) has not yet realized this ideal. One reason could be secondary teachers having alternative ontologies of evidence, explanation, and models that detract students away from molecular-level processes (Wu and Yezierski, 2022a). Foregrounding atomic/molecular behavior as the threads that weave evidence, explanations, and models of chemistry appear propitious for rousing PCC.…”

“…Stowe et al (2019) have examined their NGSS-aligned chemistry curriculum's efficacy for supporting students' understanding of atomic/molecular behavior. Professional developers for in-service secondary chemistry teachers have also incorporated the NGSS as principles informing both program design and facilitation (Wu and Yezierski, 2022a). However, the National Survey of Science of Science & Mathematics Education (NSSME) reports that classroom time dedicated to certain scientific practices (e.g., evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of scientific explanations) is still low (Smith, 2020).…”

Investigating the mangle of teaching oxidation–reduction with the VisChem approach: problematising symbolic traditions that undermine chemistry concept development

“…Instead, 106 re-appropriated the VisChem Approach as a segue into definitions (''metallically bonded,'' line 18) and vocabulary (''sea of electrons,'' line 19), familiar terms that usually surface during redox instruction. Shown with 106's emphasis on definitions and vocabulary, chemistry teachers may be compelled to opt for description as opposed to explanation (Wu and Yezierski, 2022a). While there may be innumerable reasons, one possible source could be redox' longstanding ties to the symbolic level, evidenced in 106's next event.…”

Investigating Teacher–Teacher Feedback: Uncovering Useful Socio-pedagogical Norms for Reform-Based Chemistry Instruction

“…This pedagogy can be distilled into five instructor practices: (1) showcase a macroscopic phenomenon to prime the learner’s perception filter for incoming visual and auditory stimuli; (2) elicit students’ initial ideas by having them create a pre-animation viewing storyboard; (3) coordinate engagement with a VisChem animation and simultaneously reduce the potential for cognitive overload; (4) prompt student discussion, reflection, and creation of a post-animation viewing storyboard; and (5) enable opportunities for students to link new ideas to their prior knowledge (Figure ). By design, the VisChem Approach incorporates key components of the Next Generation Science Standards , such as an emphasis on chemical explanations and particulate-level models. , …”