Barbara A. Reisner

This study investigates how inorganic chemistry students and faculty discuss electrical conductivity differences between a metal and a semiconductor using an open-ended question with temperature-dependent conductivity data. The question was deployed across seven foundation-level inorganic chemistry courses in different institutional contexts. Four overarching categories of ideas emerged from the responses: conductivity, doping, band structure, and the effects of temperature. Responses were analyzed on the basis of these categories. The majority of students discussed conductivity and doping, with fewer discussing the band structure and temperature. Students enrolled in courses with a physical chemical prerequisite referenced more ideas, including more submicroscopic ideas, in their responses compared to students in a course that did not have this prerequisite. Instructor responses included ideas from all four categories as well as more ideas derived from submicroscopic models. This pattern is consistent with experts referring to more resources than novices. Generally, these results provide further evidence of the impact that increased exposure and practice have on learning and development of knowledge. These findings reveal that, although students use ideas from the four overarching categories, they do not fully use those concepts to explain the electronic behavior of solids, which suggests the need for instruction that helps students make connections between macroscopic data and submicroscopic explanations. The resources used by inorganic students and suggestions for how these ideas can be surfaced and integrated during instruction are presented herein.

The association between student motivation and learning, and changes in motivation across a course, were evaluated for students enrolled in one-semester foundation-level inorganic chemistry courses at multiple postsecondary institutions across the United States. The Academic Motivation Scale for Chemistry (AMS-Chemistry) and the Foundations of Inorganic Chemistry American Chemical Society Exam ( i.e. , a content knowledge measure) were used in this study. Evidence of validity, reliability, and longitudinal measurement invariance for data obtained from the AMS-Chemistry instrument with this population were found using methodologies appropriate for ordinal, non-parametric data. Positive and significant associations between intrinsic motivation measures and academic performance corroborate theoretical and empirical investigations; however, a lack of pre/post changes in motivation suggest that motivation may be less malleable in courses primarily populated by chemistry majors. Implications for inorganic chemistry instructors include paths for incorporating engaging pedagogies known to promote intrinsic motivation and methods for incorporating affect measures into assessment practices. Implications for researchers include a need for more work that disaggregates chemistry majors when evaluating relationships between affect and learning, and when making pre/post comparisons. Additionally, this work provides an example of how to implement more appropriate methods for treating data in studies using Likert-type responses and nested data.

In 2021, the JMU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry conducted a search for tenure track and renewable term appointment faculty. The search was anonymized and scaffolded to attract a diverse and highly qualified candidate pool and minimize bias during the hiring process. The department attracted a broad pool through national and targeted advertising. Candidates submitted a cover letter and curriculum vita which were redacted and reviewed using a rubric. Candidates who addressed the criteria in the job advertisement were invited to submit anonymized teaching and diversity statements (all candidates) and research statements (tenure track candidates) which were also reviewed using a rubric. Candidates who scored highly were invited to participate in a masked phone interview, and the top applicants were brought to campus for on site interviews. This process produced a candidate pool that became more diverse as the search continued. In this paper we describe the philosophy of the search process, describe how it was implemented, and provide recommendations for programs that wish to employ a similar process.

Thermal gravimetric analysis (TG), attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) were used to establish the chemical reactions that occur during the thermal decomposition of sodium bis(oxalato)cuprate(II) dihydrate under static air and under flowing nitrogen. The decomposition temperatures and products produced depended on the atmosphere. Decomposition is a three-step process. Under both atmospheres, the initial step is the loss of water to form Na2Cu(C2O4)2. This decomposes to form Na2C2O4 and a copper compound that depends on the carrier gas with Cu being the decomposition product under nitrogen while CuO is produced in air. During the final decomposition, Na2C2O4 decomposes to form Na2CO3. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure the enthalpy of formation for Na2Cu(C2O4)2 and Na2Cu(C2O4)2⋅2H2O. The average values determined for the enthalpies of formation were -2095 kJ mol-1 and -2670 kJ mol-1 for Na2Cu(C2O4)2 and Na2Cu(C2O4)2⋅2H2O respectively with a measured standard deviation of ±5 kJ mol-1 and estimated total uncertainty of ±10 kJ mol-1.