Chemical Education Roundup, 6-12-2011

This week has been an interesting one in chemical education. I know I promised interactive concept mapping on the web like two weeks ago, but things have gotten a little crazy as I’ve gotten stuff together for a publication (and realized the massive amount of work I have to do to make the publication complete). I’m going to go ahead and stamp it with a “Coming Soon” label.

At any rate, the Journal of Chemical Education was abuzz this week with a debate about the role of the rate-limiting step assumption in enzyme kinetics. Definitely worth a read if you’re a biology-leaning chemist with an interest in Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

In Science, experimental philosophy in the social sciences came under the gun this week, as Shaun Nichols and David Carmel debate the role of surveys in social-science experiments. In education, the value of triangulation has been recognized for a long time as a means to support survey data. Student performance data, qualitative observations, student interviews, focus groups, and a loooong list of assessment techniques (including, but not limited to, surveys) may all be used to judge the effectiveness of a classroom intervention or change. In fact, when such data are missing, raised eyebrows are the norm. Personally, I learned this lesson the hard way on my first publication…

Speaking of classroom assessment, this JCE paper outlines a qualitative approach to assessing “inquiry-based” teaching methods, which involve open-ended problems that demand application of the scientific method to reach a reasonable solution. The authors argue that most current assessment techniques are inappropriate for inquiry-based activities (IBAs), advancing the “mental models” framework as a theoretical basis for assessment of IBAs. Critically, the goal is to shift the focus of assessment toward the learner and away from content exposure (and other irrelevant measuring sticks).