2014 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education

Students often have difficulty applying classroom skills to a real life context. A method to address this issue is to engage students in design-based problems in which they must apply the core practices of chemistry -- synthesis, analysis, and transformation of matter. Using design-based problems in the classroom can enable instructors to identify how students are thinking about a chemical problem in order to better move them forward in their learning. In this workshop, participants will engage in a design-based lab experience to create and optimize an explosion in a Pringles can and reflect on student understandings that can be revealed through questioning during the laboratory activity. Participants will also learn how to improve their methods of asking questions to elucidate students' underlying assumptions about chemical entities and processes. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to modify currently used lab activities to include a design component.