TY - JOUR

T1 - Setting Up Chemistry Demonstrations According to the Left-to-Right Principle

T2 - An Eye-Movement-Pattern-Based Analysis

AU - Nehring, Andreas

AU - Busch, Sebastian

PY - 2020/1/14

Y1 - 2020/1/14

N2 - Although demonstrations play a central role in teaching and learning chemistry, the effects of concrete setup principles have rarely been subject to systematic empirical studies. According to the left-to-right principle, the educator should begin with the first step of a reaction in the upper left part of the setup and then place the following apparatus in the lower right. Using data from an experimental eye-tracking study on students' visual attention that was published in the Journal of Chemical Education, we reanalyzed eye-tracking in order to find out whether eye-movements are influenced in a manner that supports a setup according to the left-to-right principle. On the basis of a pattern analysis, the results show that left-to-right patterns generally appear significantly more often within the data than right-to-left patterns. Although the left-to-right demonstration does not seem to systematically include more left-to-right patterns, it is associated with a decrease of right-to-left patterns. Accordingly, a right-to-left setup seems to add more eye-movements that do not follow the logic of the demonstration. We discuss these findings with regard to their importance for educators and new perspectives on future chemistry demonstrations research.

AB - Although demonstrations play a central role in teaching and learning chemistry, the effects of concrete setup principles have rarely been subject to systematic empirical studies. According to the left-to-right principle, the educator should begin with the first step of a reaction in the upper left part of the setup and then place the following apparatus in the lower right. Using data from an experimental eye-tracking study on students' visual attention that was published in the Journal of Chemical Education, we reanalyzed eye-tracking in order to find out whether eye-movements are influenced in a manner that supports a setup according to the left-to-right principle. On the basis of a pattern analysis, the results show that left-to-right patterns generally appear significantly more often within the data than right-to-left patterns. Although the left-to-right demonstration does not seem to systematically include more left-to-right patterns, it is associated with a decrease of right-to-left patterns. Accordingly, a right-to-left setup seems to add more eye-movements that do not follow the logic of the demonstration. We discuss these findings with regard to their importance for educators and new perspectives on future chemistry demonstrations research.

KW - Applications of Chemistry

KW - Demonstrations

KW - Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives

KW - High School/Introductory Chemistry

KW - Laboratory Instruction

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075782865&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00102

DO - 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00102

M3 - Article

VL - 97

SP - 275

EP - 282

JO - Journal of Chemical Education

JF - Journal of Chemical Education

SN - 0021-9584

IS - 1

ER -