What is Chemistry Education Research?
Chemistry Education Research (CER) is a type of Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER). Physics, Chemistry, and Biology are among the oldest disciplines to develop education research subfields, but this is growing rapidly in other STEM areas. For more about this: see the National Research Council's 2012 "".
CER is fundamentally inter- and multi-disciplinary. Knowledge and methods from chemistry and related fields are used to scientifically study questiosn related to the teaching and learning of chemistry. There are many different types of CER studies, and subfields of focus within CER.
What do we do?
My long-term research agenda is focused on three areas:
- Advancing fundamental understanding of how to support interdisciplinary knowledge activation
- Expanding and the CER theory and methods base
- Supporting the continued development of CER as a field and community
We primarily employ an exploratory scientific approach, which often yields unexpected discoveries. We also support student reearcher-initiated projects in areas where we hold relevant expertise. Thus, recent projects span a range of topics. For example:
- “The hypothesis becomes forced”: Cultural narratives about deductive hypothesis testing influence scientists’ self-perception and actions (coming soon, in press)
- How perspective directs outcomes: The structure & function of deficit and anti-deficit framing, and their relevance to chemistry education ()
- Toward collaborative dialogue: Unpacking the researcher-educator divide to advance chemistry education ()
- "I did the best I possibly could": Factors influencing teachers' incorporation of climate science in high school chemistry ()