Towns Research Group - Chemical Education

Check out our latest paper, published in The Biophysicist. It focuses on how we can improve students' understanding of enzyme kinetics.

Research on Students' Understanding of Michaelis-Menten Kinetics and Enzyme Inhibition: Implications for Instruction and Learning Article Citation: Jon-Marc G. Rodriguez and Marcy H. Towns (2020) Research on Students' Understanding of Michaelis-Menten Kinetics and Enzyme Inhibition: Implications for Instruction and Learning. The Biophysicist: 2020, Vol. 1, No. 2, 3. https://doi.org/10.35459/tbp.2019.000108

Check this paper by the Becker Research Group!

Students’ interpretation and use of graphical representations: insights afforded by modeling the varied population schema as a coordination class - Chemistry Education Research and Practice (RSC Publishing) Explanations of phenomena in chemistry are grounded in discussions of particulate-level behavior, but there are limitations to focusing on single particles, or as an extension, viewing a group of particles as displaying uniform behavior. More sophisticated models of physical processes evoke consider...

Check out our latest paper on students' epistemological and mathematical reasoning in chemical kinetics!

The Role of Epistemology and Epistemic Games in Mediating the Use of Mathematics in Chemistry: Implications for Mathematics Instruction and Research on Undergraduate Mathematics Education Mathematics is used in the physical sciences to describe and model phenomena, resulting in a unique interface between mathematics and disciplines such as chemistry and physics. This paper focuses on...

Check out our most recent paper about graphical reasoning!

Graphical Forms: The Adaptation of Sherin’s Symbolic Forms for the Analysis of Graphical Reasoning Across Disciplines In this paper, we introduce and discuss a construct called graphical forms, an extension of Sherin’s symbolic forms. In its original conceptualization, symbolic forms characterize the ideas students...

Our research group has gained so much through cross-disciplinary discussions! Check out our newest paper!

Chemistry and Mathematics: Research and Frameworks To Explore Student Reasoning Chemistry and Mathematics: Research and Frameworks To Explore Student Reasoning

Some more work from the Towns Group!

Alternative Use for the Refined Consensus Model of Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Suggestions for Contextualizing Chemistry Education Research Alternative Use for the Refined Consensus Model of Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Suggestions for Contextualizing Chemistry Education Research

Check out our latest work!

Michaelis–Menten Graphs, Lineweaver–Burk Plots, and Reaction Schemes: Investigating Introductory Biochemistry Students’ Conceptions of Representations in Enzyme Kinetics Michaelis–Menten Graphs, Lineweaver–Burk Plots, and Reaction Schemes: Investigating Introductory Biochemistry Students’ Conceptions of Representations in Enzyme Kinetics

Check out our latest paper - Investigating Student Understanding of Rate Constants: When is a Constant “Constant”? Kinsey Rae Johnny Rodriguez

Investigating Student Understanding of Rate Constants: When is a Constant “Constant”? | Journal of Chemical Education ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ARTICLES ASAPArticleNEXT Investigating Student Understanding of Rate Constants: When is a Constant “Constant”?Kinsey BainKinsey BainDepartment of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United StatesMore by Kinsey Bainhttp://orcid.org/0000-0003...

Congratulations Johnny Rodriguez, PhD!!!

Congrats to Franziska Lang, PhD!

Congrats to Stephanie Santos-Diaz, Ph.D. Candidate!

See our latest publication on problem solving in chemical kinetics! Johnny Rodriguez Kinsey Rae

Productive features of problem solving in chemical kinetics: More than just algorithmic manipulation of variables - Chemistry Education Research and Practice (RSC Publishing) Problem solving is a critical feature of highly quantitative physical science topics, such as chemical kinetics. In order to solve a problem, students must cue into relevant features, ignore irrelevant features, and choose among potential problem-solving approaches. However, what is considered appro...