Office: CHBA 109 Phone: (405) 325-4981 Email: mrabraham@ou.edu Group Homepage Link Full Publications List	Michael R. Abraham David Ross Boyd Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry B.A. (Grinnell College) 1964 M.A.T. (Emory University) 1965 Ph.D. (Florida State University) 1973 Regents' Award for Superior Teaching, 1982. Henry Daniel Rinsland Award for Excellence in Educational Research, 1998.
Division: Science/Chemical Education Research Interests Science program development and evaluation; instructional strategies; student misconceptions in chemistry; visualization; the role of computers in instruction.

As the department's resident "education expert", I direct degree and research programs that might be of interest to those concerned with the instructional aspects of the discipline of chemistry.

The University of Oklahoma offers a Ph.D. in Chemistry with an emphasis in Chemical Education. This degree program is one of the few in the country and is designed:

1. To provide prospective college chemistry faculty members a thorough academic experience in chemistry and chemical education so that they will be able to plan, instruct in and direct an undergraduate chemistry program;
   
   
2. To provide these students with sufficient background in learning theory so that they will be able to design and implement instructional strategies; design, develop, and evaluate curriculum materials; and perform research in science education;
   
   
3. To provide a research experience in chemistry that will enable these students to direct undergraduate research projects in chemistry;

The focus of my research activities is on three areas: (1) Instructional Strategies, (2) Misconceptions in Chemistry, and (3) Computers in Chemical Education.

Instructional strategies and their effect on student learning of science concepts is one of our areas of focus. Especially of interest is inquiry-oriented, laboratory-based instructional strategies based on modern philosophical and psychological theories of the nature of science and learning. Our studies have solidified the research base for an instructional approach called the Learning Cycle Approach, and has resulted in its increased use in science classrooms in recent years. Major findings: Instructional strategies and curricular materials designed to teach science concepts are more effective and result in more positive attitudes when they provide activities for students to: (a) explore the concept in a laboratory setting, (b) discuss the concept with peers and experts, and (c) apply the concept to see it's pertinence to other systems and its connections to other concepts. Furthermore, instructional strategies are more effective when laboratory is used to introduce rather than verify concepts.

Our interest centers on student's conceptions of scientific phenomena, especially the alternative conceptions (or misconceptions) students develop or retain in spite of formal educational efforts. Our focus is on misconceptions related to atomic and molecular models (PNM) and how student conceptions of these models influence learning. Major findings: Students are reluctant to use PNM explanations for physical and chemical phenomena unless they are cued to do so. These misconceptions have many possible sources including instruction and macroscopic reasoning. The frequency and type of misconceptions shows no predictable pattern with respect to experience with a concept. Depending on the concept and the nature of the misconception, increased experience might cause more, less, or the same number of misconceptions.

We are studying how students visualize PNM phenomena. Our studies concentrate on the use of computer animation to help students visualize atomic and molecular behavior. Major findings: Computer animation visualization can decrease the number and kind of misconceptions held by beginning chemistry students. Computers are more effective with instruction involving the development and use of molecular models, especially if complex interactions and motion are involved. Computers are less effective with instructional tasks involving complex computational activities. Students with high spatial relations abilities gain more from the use of kinetics visuals.