How students use spectrophotometric instruments to create *understanding
Abstract
In this study, I investigated how upper-division college students interacted with three laboratory instruments (all spectrophotometers) in order to identify the affordances (what something provides or furnishes) of these spectrophotometers that impacted students' construction of scientific understanding. I specifically wanted to understand how scientific instruments impact student understanding. I used the ideas of distributed cognition and the theory of affordances as a framework to help identify the affordances of these spectrophotometers that impacted students understanding of chemistry concepts and interpretation of data. I found the primary affordances of the spectrophotometer were based around how the nature of the data collected, how the data were displayed, and how the data were recorded. Data acquired in a rapid manner generally focused students on procedural issues due to the students' drive to leave the laboratory as soon as possible. In contrast, techniques that required large amount of data collection over longer periods of time decreased student motivation due to the drudgery of data collection. Computer recording and graphical representation of data helped remove the drudgery and presented the data to students in a manner that aided data interpretation and provided opportunities for student to enhance their understanding of these abstract representations. Overall, we found that instrument designs, experiment designs, and instructor's and students' objectives influenced the affordances that students perceived in instruments. Therefore, instructors must be cognizant of their objectives for having students use instruments in a laboratory setting and choose instruments and procedures that are consistent with those objectives.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Nakhleh, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Science education|Analytical chemistry
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