Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic table and the first European Academy of Sciences to honour him.

The chemical science community will commemorate the 155th anniversary of Mendeleev's groundbreaking discovery of the periodic table of elements in 2024. This paper aims to underscore the significance of Mendeleev's honorary membership in the Academy of Sciences in Zagreb, Croatia, which occurred in 1882, making it the first scientific academy in Europe to extend this recognition. Additionally, we seek to explore the contextual circumstances that contributed to this noteworthy event within the broader European context. To provide insight into the specificities and variations in the influence and reception of the periodic table of elements within the educational process of select European countries (Russia, Germany, Czech Lands, Serbia), we conducted a comprehensive review, drawing comparisons to Croatia. Notably, upon its initial publication in 1869, the discovery of the periodic table did not gain immediate acceptance in Croatia, largely attributed to the absence of a well-established presence of chemical science within the country. About fifteen years passed from Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic law to its reception and dissemination throughout Croatia. Despite an initial delay, Croatian chemical science followed the development of the periodic table through secondary and university education, while actively partaking it in.

Self-regulated learning of Natural Sciences and Mathematics future teachers: learning strategies, self-efficacy, and socio-demographic factors

Teacher education programs should have as one of their purposes the promotion of self-regulatory skills for learning among students who aspire to be teachers so that they can take a leading role in their learning and foster these skills in their future students. Considering the importance of knowing what students in teacher education programs do to study and learn, as well as how efficacious they feel to deal with academic demands, this study is part of a larger research and aims to investigate the learning and study strategies and self-efficacy for learning beliefs of 220 students enrolled in teacher education programs in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics of a Higher Education Institution in the state of Piauí, and examine them in relation to age, gender, licentiate area, and course semester. Brazilian translations of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI ­ Third Edition) and the Self-efficacy for Learning Form were used for data collection. Scales were administered in the classrooms both through online platforms and in paper and pencil. Nonparametric inferential statistical pproaches were used to test hypotheses regarding group differences. Statistically significant differences were found in LASSI in relation to gender, licentiate area, and course semester. Overall, students in Physics dealt better with anxiety; in Mathematics showed more favorable attitudes towards learning; in Chemistry reported an aging their time better; in Biological Science showed significantly lower scores on many scales than did other students. Findings from this study could help inform curricular design decisions regarding teacher education programs and inform the design of interventions to strengthen the learning and study strategies and the self-efficacy for learning beliefs of future teachers.

Developing Students' Problem-solving Skills Using Learning Tasks: An Action Research Project in Secondary School.

Studies on students' problem-solving skills worldwide suggest there is a room for improvement. This study aimed at improving upper-secondary school students' problem-solving skills in chemistry lessons. They were given a problem tasks pre-test focused on their conceptual knowledge regarding the periodic table, ability to apply knowledge on the factors affecting chemistry reaction rate and compounds' properties. Most students (72 out of 112) did not succeed to solve the tasks. For this reason, an intervention was designed based on a study using eye-tracking combined with think-aloud. It consisted of students' working on (PISA-like) context-based chemistry problem tasks with a special scaffolding. A teacher provided formative assessment promoting students' expansive strategies. The intervention's effect was again assessed using problem tasks in two post-tests. The results showed the action plan was successful in helping the majority of students reach above-average test score. The ratio of successful solvers also rose and unsuccessful significantly declined.

Next generation of chemistry and biochemistry conference posters: Animation, augmented reality, visitor statistics, and visitors' attention.

Every branch of science needs visitors' attention during the poster presentation session at conferences, symposiums, seminars, etc. In particular, participants in the chemistry and biochemistry conference need more visual tools to explain their research work in detail. Presence of smartphones and the ability of 2D barcodes will allow chemical reactions or processes to be shown in the form of a movie, animation or augmented reality (AR). Therefore, the next generation of posters will be more interested in this view. Here, the ability of 2D barcodes or QR codes to help researchers to catch more attention in their research work was presented during a poster presentation session. In this way, the visitors showed positive attitudes to the applicability of such tools. Also, some information including the number of poster visitors and interesting topics in the conference can be collected easily which is useful for the scientific and organizing committee of conferences. As a result, biochemistry conference posters can be presented in new ways, based on animation images or video, to capture the attention of viewers and deepen their understanding of poster concepts.

An account of strategies and innovations for teaching chemistry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt suspension of face-to-face teaching activities in higher education institutions across the globe. The instructors and faculty at most institutions have had to adapt, invent, and implement adjustments quickly to adopt an online learning environment. This has been an extraordinarily challenging time for both students and instructors, particularly as many were not aware of the affordances and weaknesses of the online learning environment before it was uptaken. Particularly for chemistry and related disciplines, this change in delivery mode is even more disruptive in courses that have laboratory components due to loss of access to laboratories. As a teaching community, it was our responsibility to respond quickly and effectively to students' learning needs during this unprecedented global crisis. In our course, we provided succinct pre-recorded lecture-videos by topic rather than live-streaming of lectures. The recordings were made available to students a minimum of 24 h before the scheduled lecture time. Students were then provided opportunities to attend live tutorial sessions (held on Zoom and live Q&A feature on Piazza) if they had any questions that they wanted to ask the lecturer directly. We believe that the asynchronous sessions were more equitable than synchronous ones. This meant that students with difficult and challenging home/learning environments (i.e., disruptions at home, work/family schedules, poor internet, limited access to devices, etc.) were minimally disadvantaged. The approach worked well in general for teaching chemistry to pharmacy students and we believe that it can be adopted for other subjects.

Students' use of chemistry core ideas to explain the structure and stability of DNA.

Students tend to think of their science courses as isolated and unrelated to each other, making it difficult for them to see connections across disciplines. In addition, many existing science assessments target rote memorization and algorithmic problem-solving skills. Here, we describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of an activity aimed to help students integrate knowledge across introductory chemistry and biology courses. The activity design and evaluation of students' responses were guided by the Framework for K-12 Science Education as the understanding of core ideas and crosscutting concepts and the development of scientific practices are essential for students at all levels. In this activity, students are asked to use their understanding of noncovalent interactions to explain (a) why the boiling point differs for two pure substances (chemistry phenomenon) and (b) why temperature and base pair composition affects the stability of DNA (biological phenomenon). The activity was implemented at two different institutions (N = 441) in both introductory chemistry and biology courses. Students' overall performance suggests that they can provide sophisticated responses that incorporate their understanding of noncovalent interactions and energy to explain the chemistry phenomenon, but have difficulties integrating the same knowledge to explain the biological phenomenon. Our findings reinforce the notion that students should be provided with opportunities in the classroom to purposefully practice and support the use and integration of knowledge from multiple disciplines. Students' evaluations of the activity indicated that they found it to be interesting and helpful for making connections across disciplines.

Quality of concept maps is affected by map building strategies.

Concept-maps are widely used to assess students' conceptual understanding in different subject areas. Conventionally, it is mostly built maps which are assessed. In this study, we explore if "concept-mapping" could be used as a case for constructive alignment of both the process and the outcome of learning. Specifically, we have studied how a simple measure of looking at the order in which concept map elements-concepts (cards, C), links (arrows, A), and linking phrases (phrases, P)- are placed on the working space reveals information about the quality of the final generated map. We report findings from analysis of the concept-mapping process in two separate groups of university students (N = 38 (18 + 20)) who were asked, individually, to build concept maps related to two separate concepts in biology and chemistry respectively. We found that, across both groups, students consistently followed the same order of element placement that they began with and found significant differences in the quality of eventual maps resulting from students' map building strategies. Our results suggest that the quality of students' concept maps depends considerably on the strategy used to build it, and point to the supplementary role that the physical working space of the concept-mapping exercise offers to students' own working memory as a possible explanation for these quality differences.

Introduction of new didactic methods and student-oriented teaching in the small course "Biochemistry with elements of chemistry" / Krótki kurs "Biochemia z elementami chemii" w ocenie studentów kierunku Ratownictwo Medyczne i propozycje zmian w jego nauczaniu.

Medical students' active involvement in the process of learning and acquiring the knowledge allow to develop passions and skills. The aim of learning should be to increase the number of students involved and satisfied with the learning process. Positive results can be achieved by creating attractive and accessible conditions for students to learn. The search for techniques that increase student involvement, the introduction of new teaching methods and student-oriented education should be a permanent element of modern teaching. Short courses, particularly with a small number of participants, pose certain organizational challenges. The students start the course often with significantly different initial basic knowledge and background. Additionally small number of students highlights their different expectations. In order to interest all students, a number of modern, active teaching methods should be implemented and applied. Thus we ultimately will achieve the result in increased students satisfaction with the simultaneous achievement of the intended learning outcomes within the course. Moreover one of the most important goals of the course is for the student to acquire such skills and knowledge that will be future-job useful for them. The aim of this article is to describe the changes planned in the course "Biochemistry with Elements of Chemistry" for Emergency Medical Services. The article focuses on presenting proposals for educational techniques, the application of which will create conditions for improving and equalizing student learning experience. The planned modifications are expected to increase the satisfaction of educators from teaching and students from learning. The basic change in the course concept will be the transition from the general transfer of knowledge in form of information presentation, to student centered learning and their active participation in the learning process. It is planned to introduce remote (on-line) teaching using e-learning platforms, and available online interactive teaching tools such as polleverywhere (https://www.polleverywhere.com/) or perusall (https://perusall.com/inactivity). Moreover, Case based learning, activation techniques embedded in the context of the future emergency services profession, such as role-playing, critical analysis of results or reporting, will be introduced.

Estrategias didácticas innovadoras y actitud emprendedora en estudiantes universitarios de biotecnología y química / Innovative teaching strategies and entrepreneurial attitude in Biotechnology and Chemistry university students

Introducción: El emprendimiento es la actitud y aptitud que toma un sujeto para iniciar un nuevo proyecto a través de ideas y oportunidades, su gestión eficiente dota al estudiante universitario de las herramientas necesarias para su implementación. Objetivo: Evaluar la percepción de los estudiantes sobre las estrategias didácticas aplicadas en la cátedra de Emprendimiento de Biotecnología y Química de la Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH). Métodos: Se realizó una investigación exploratoria con la participación de 50 estudiantes de Biotecnología y Química de la universidad mencionada, aplicando durante la asignatura de Emprendimiento una estrategia didáctica innovadora, previamente evaluada como pertinente por un grupo de 13 expertos. La percepción del estudiantado fue evaluada a través de un cuestionario (7 preguntas), aplicado al finalizar la asignatura, analizando los datos con estadística descriptiva e inferencial. Resultados: Se calificó las preguntas incluidas en el cuestionario con el máximo valor de acuerdo; existiendo diferencias significativas en relación al sexo en la percepción sobre la disminución de los niveles de estrés durante la clase, cambios en la actitud emprendedora y utilidad de la asignatura para el futuro desarrollo emprendedor. La prueba Rho de Spearman determinó interesantes correlaciones entre las preguntas del cuestionario, especialmente las relacionadas con que la generación de un buen ambiente de aprendizaje, la disminución de los niveles de estrés en la clase y las relaciones profesor-estudiante. Conclusiones: La aplicación de estrategias didácticas-innovadoras mejora el impacto que la asignatura de Emprendimiento tiene sobre la formación de la actitud emprendedora del estudiantado(AU)

Introduction: Entrepreneurship is the attitude and aptitude that a subject takes to start a new project through ideas and opportunities, its efficient management allows equipping the university student with the necessary tools for its implementation. Objective: To evaluate the students' perception of the didactic strategies applied in the Chair of Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology and Chemistry careers of Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH). Methods: An exploratory research was carried out with the participation of 50 Biotechnology and Chemistry students from the mentioned university, to whom an innovative didactic strategy was applied during the Entrepreneurship course, which was previously evaluated as relevant by a group of 13 experts. The perception of the students was evaluated through a questionnaire with 7 questions, which was applied at the end of the course and whose data were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Most of the students rated the questions included in the questionnaire with the highest value of agreement. There are significant differences according to gender in the perception of the decrease in stress levels during class, changes in entrepreneurial attitude and the usefulness of the subject for future entrepreneurial development. Using the Spearman Rho test, interesting correlations were determined between the questions of the questionnaire, especially those related to the generation of a good learning environment, the reduction of stress levels in the class and teacher-student relationships. Conclusions: The application of didactic-innovative strategies improves the impact that the Entrepreneurship course has on the entrepreneurial attitude formation of the student body(AU)

Stay calm and focus on the learning outcomes: Tools for taking biophysical chemistry online.

Course specific learning outcomes are an important tool to define the scope of a course and can be very helpful when designing experiments and assessments. With slight modification, these learning outcomes can serve as a guide when transitioning to the distance learning format especially in courses with a traditional lab. Here we present such an example for the biophysical chemistry course.

Henry Jacob Bigelow Inhaled Nitrous Oxide While an Undergraduate at Harvard College.

When teenaged Henry Jacob Bigelow was an undergraduate at Harvard College in 1833-1837, he prepared nitrous oxide gas for demonstrations to other students. Bigelow's son, William Sturgis Bigelow, related the claim, and there is an eyewitness account from Augustus Goddard Peabody, a fellow Harvard undergraduate with Bigelow. Peabody wrote to Henry David Thoreau about a nitrous frolic. College chemistry primed Bigelow to support the concept of inhaled surgical anesthesia when the idea came to Boston in 1845-1846. Bigelow's chemistry professor was John White Webster. According to Harvard alumnus Edward Everett Hale, in addition to demonstrating effects of nitrous oxide, Webster presciently treated two cases of carbon monoxide poisoning with copious volumes of synthetic oxygen gas. The career of Webster was inhibited by financial difficulties that were suspected to be contributory when he was convicted of the 1849 murder of physician George Parkman at the Harvard Medical School, then adjacent to Massachusetts General Hospital and its Ether Dome. Webster suffered the death penalty in 1850.

Sense of belonging within the graduate community of a research-focused STEM department: Quantitative assessment using a visual narrative and item response theory.

It is well-documented that the representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities diminishes at higher levels of academia, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Sense of belonging-the extent to which an individual believes they are accepted, valued, and included in a community-is often emphasized as an important predictor of retention throughout academia. While literature addressing undergraduate sense of belonging is abundant, there has been little investigation of sense of belonging in graduate communities. Because graduate training is required to generate new scientific leaders, it is important to understand and address sense of belonging at the graduate level-paying explicit attention to devising strategies that can be used to increase representation at higher levels of academia. Here, a visual narrative survey and item response modeling are used to quantify sense of belonging among graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty within the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Results suggest that graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty all experience impostor phenomenon. Respondents struggle most with maintaining positive self-perceptions of their productivity, capabilities as a scientist, and success-particularly in comparison to their peers. Communicating about science with peers, talking about teaching hurdles, and engaging in mentoring relationships also contribute significantly to sense of belonging. Faculty members have the highest sense of belonging, while senior graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are least likely to feel a sense of belonging. Additionally, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who identify as underrepresented, as well as those who submit manuscripts for publication less than their peers, are less likely to feel a sense of belonging. This is the first study to generate a quantitative, nuanced understanding of sense of belonging within the entire graduate academic community of an R1 STEM department. We envision that these methods can be implemented within any research-focused academic unit to better understand the challenges facing community members and identify factors to address in promoting positive culture change. Furthermore, these methods and results should provide a foundation for devising interventions that academic stakeholders can use to directly improve graduate education.

Partnering ethics and chemistry in secondary and university STEM education via an innovatively designed periodic table of chemical elements / Ética y química asociadas en la educación secundaria y universitaria STEM, a través de una tabla periódica de elementos químicos de diseño innovador / Associando ética e química na educação stem secundária e universitária via uma tabela periódica de elementos químicos desenvolvida de forma innovadora

As declared by the United Nations, 2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. Accordingly, an innovative new Periodic Table of Chemical Elements and Ethics [PETE] has been developed as an educational tool for secondary and university STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. The tool is designed to be used in a case-based approache that is feasible to both individual and small group learners. Specifically, with the new periodic table, STEM becomes aligned with STSE (Science and Technology on Society and Environment), laying a curricular pathway for integrating discussions of ethics into the teaching of chemistry. Presented is the table, as well as sources for pairable ethics cases, and guidance for teachers to create curriculum which facilitates connections between ethics, chemistry, and society.

Según lo declarado por las Naciones Unidas, 2019 es el Año Internacional de la Tabla Periódica de Elementos Químicos. En consecuencia, se ha desarrollado una nueva e innovadora tabla periódica de elementos químicos y ética [PETE] como una herramienta educativa para la educación secundaria y universitaria STEM (Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas). La herramienta está diseñada para usarse en un enfoque basado en casos que sea factible tanto para estudiantes individuales como para grupos pequeños. Específicamente, con la nueva tabla periódica, STEM se alinea con STSE (Ciencia y Tecnología en Sociedad y Medio Ambiente), estableciendo una vía curricular para integrar las discusiones de ética en la enseñanza de la química. Se presenta la tabla, así como las fuentes de casos de ética que se pueden pactar, y orientación para que los maestros creen un plan de estudios que facilite las conexiones entre la ética, la química y la sociedad.

Como declarado pelas Nações Unidas, 2019 é o Ano Internacional da Tabela Periódica de Elementos Químicos. Portanto, uma inovadora e nova Tabela Periódica de Elementos Químicos e Ética (PETE, sigla em inglês) foi desenvolvida como uma ferramenta educacional para educação STEM (sigla em inglês para Ciência, Tecnologia, Engenharia e Matemática) secundária e universitária. A ferramenta é elaborada para ser usada em uma abordagem baseada em casos, viável tanto para aprendizagem individual como de pequenos grupos. Especificamente, com a nova tabela periódica, STEM se alinha com STSE (sigla em inglês para Ciência e Tecnologia na Sociedade e Ambiente), estabelecendo uma via curricular para integrar discussões de ética no ensino de química. Apresenta-se a tabela, bem como fontes de casos éticos pareados, e orientação para professores criarem um currículo que facilite conexões entre ética, química e sociedade.

A pedagogical approach to science outreach.

Encouragement of students across all communities through scientific outreach programs is critical to engaging the next generation, exciting young minds to pursue careers in science and medicine. Herein, we present a uniquely structured and widely influential science outreach program. Founded in 2005, the Duke Chemistry Outreach (DCO) employs a pedagogical approach to outreach that aims to teach its audience a new scientific concept, while instilling a pure enjoyment of science. DCO has performed 583 events reaching over 70,000 participants throughout 2,270 hours, with the majority of events in Durham, the surrounding North Carolinian communities, and across 8 other states. The flexibility and diversity of this outreach program creates a framework amendable for others to adopt in both secondary and higher education settings.

The impact of penalties for wrong answers on the gender gap in test scores.

Multiple-choice examinations play a critical role in university admissions across the world. A key question is whether imposing penalties for wrong answers on these examinations deters guessing from women more than men, disadvantaging female test-takers. We consider data from a large-scale, high-stakes policy change that removed penalties for wrong answers on the national college entry examination in Chile. The policy change reduced a large gender gap in questions skipped. It also narrowed gender gaps in performance, primarily among high-performing test-takers, and in the fields of math, social science, and chemistry.

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.

[Looking Back on My Time as a Postdoc in Germany].

After finishing my Ph.D., I had the opportunity to work as a postdoc in the Division of Redox Regulation (laboratory of Tobias Dick) at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg for almost three years. Although cultural differences between Japan and Germany made my time in Germany hectic, the experience expanded my worldview as well as my research expertise. Here I would like to share my experience in conducting research abroad and give my opinion about its significance. I hope that this symposium review will be helpful to students interested in researching abroad and will give them a positive impression and encouragement.