Evolution after the Revolution: How Classical and Online School Chemistry Teaching Has Changed during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on education. In the beginning, teachers were shocked by compulsory online teaching; later, they had to cope with changing restrictions, distance, and blended and hybrid environments. Such a situation was particularly difficult for chemistry teachers, who not only were forced to find a way to organize classes focused on theoretical knowledge but also had to present various phenomena, reactions, and preferably, practice laboratory skills. This paper is focused on changes in chemistry teaching at the secondary school level after two years of the pandemic compared to the first lockouts. The study involved 28 chemistry teachers and their 110 students, all from Slovakian secondary schools, and was based on online questionnaires. Results revealed how online school chemistry teaching changed, what were the teachers' challenges and attitudes toward online teaching, and how the students perceived online chemistry lessons. It was found that various groups of teachers mastered elements of online teaching at different levels. There are still teachers who struggle with the basics of online teaching but also skilled teachers who can handle many online teaching features. However, all of them still require assistance in their development, covering methodological, technical, and equipment areas. Therefore, results of this study suggest which aspects of online education instructors should pay attention to during pre- and in-service teachers' training, so skills gained by teachers during the pandemic will not be lost, and which areas of online teaching are beneficial or difficult for students.

Introduction of Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs) to School Chemistry Teaching: Teachers' Attitudes, Beliefs, and Experiences.

This paper presents teachers' perspectives and experiences with the implementation of formative assessment (FA) into chemistry lessons at the secondary school level through Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs). The research had a qualitative character and was based on semistructured interviews focused on: the definition and previous use of FA, implementation experience, and teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and abilities. The research describes five cases-chemistry teachers participating in a professional development program. The 2 year-long training was focused on the theory of FA, practical exercises, and extended support during in-school FACTs implementation. The results showed that using FACTs during secondary school chemistry lessons emphasizes students' strengths and weaknesses, encourages them to perform truthful self-assessments, and engages them. Moreover, using FACTs opens new areas for parents' involvement in the assessment and learning process that can be especially valuable for students with special educational needs. The main challenges cited by teachers were time management, policy support, and the need for further assistance during FACTs implementation.

Demonstration of the Influence of Specific Surface Area on Reaction Rate in Heterogeneous Catalysis.

Heterogeneous catalysis plays an important role in many chemical reactions, especially those applied in industrial processes, and therefore, its theoretical foundations are introduced not only to students majoring in chemical engineering or catalysis but also as part of general chemistry courses. The consideration of catalytic activity of various solids and mechanisms of catalytic reactions requires the introduction of the concept of an active site, which together with the catalyst specific surface area are discussed as key parameters controlling the reaction rate. There are many known demonstrations of heterogeneous catalysis phenomena that can be performed live in a lecture hall, but all of them focus only on the general idea of catalytic processes and are not suitable for quantitative analysis. Therefore, herein we present a simple demonstration of the influence of the specific surface area of a catalyst on the rate of a catalytic reaction. This demonstration is based on a model reaction of hydrogen peroxide decomposition catalyzed by cobalt spinel (Co3O4) calcined at various temperatures. The differences in reaction rates can be monitored visually, and the obtained data can be used directly for a simple kinetic analysis, including comparison of numerical values of the reaction rate constants.

Online Experimentation during COVID-19 Secondary School Closures: Teaching Methods and Student Perceptions.

The COVID-19 lockout situation affected people all over the world. Despite all of the disadvantages, this situation offered new experiences and perspectives and pushed education advances forward as never before. Something that seemed to be unreal became a worldwide reality within a few days. Instructors of all subjects at all educational levels moved to a virtual environment instantly. Higher education institutions, universities, and colleges seemed to be fairly prepared for this situation. Unfortunately, primary and secondary schools, especially in eastern and central Europe, never considered distance education as a valuable alternative before, so they did not have software, hardware, and staff prepared for such a situation. Moreover, students' expectations and dilemmas concerning e-learning were not investigated earlier in the context of obligatory subject education. Moving to the virtual environment was particularly challenging for teachers, who wanted to transfer real class experiences into online lessons since chemistry is based on problems, observations, evidence, and experiments. Often, teachers claimed that they could be more efficient if they had knowledge, skills, and proper equipment to run classes online. This paper presents experiences of secondary chemistry teachers from Slovakia, participants in the IT Academy Project, who earlier, within the framework of the project, were equipped with the necessary skills and tools to run virtual classes, supported with data logging experiments. In this communication, the teachers' efforts using online experimental practices are described, as well as reflections by their students about the experiences.

Drawing in 3D: Using 3D printer pens to draw chemical models.

Development of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has started a new chapter for in-classroom modeling of chemical molecules. The technology provides the opportunity to design and produce various types of personalized models. However, using classical 3D printers is time consuming, and it is hard to involve students in the modeling process during traditional class times. One solution can be using hand-held 3D printers (3D pens) that allow users to instantly draw geometrical structures. Unfortunately, drawing directly in 3D is very difficult, and precise modeling of even small molecules is simply not possible. In this article, a new approach to 3D modeling is described. It is based on 3D templates that enable the drawing of molecular models directly in three dimensions. The modular nature of the templates allows for the creation of a wide variety of structures. The resulting models provide an accurate representation of molecules including correct bond angles and geometry. This approach makes 3D pens a powerful tool for the modeling of chemical structures.