\n\n
The Ocean in a Test Tube:<\/strong>KOALa<\/strong> stands for “Investigating the Effects of Climate Change on the Ocean and Atmosphere in the Laboratory”<\/em> and focuses on the issue of ocean acidification as its central theme. In addition, students gain insights into typical activities associated with laboratory-related professions as part of the program.Because green turns to yellow, there\u2019s not much left of the coral reef: <\/span>The lab day begins by exploring the mystery behind this riddle. Inspired by the game concept of Black Stories<\/em>, students work in small groups to investigate various lab stations, preceded by a crash course on acids and bases. Through experimentation, they gather the relevant information needed to solve the riddle.\nThe station work addresses the causes, consequences, and basic chemical principles related to the main theme of ocean acidification. Students are supported by experienced lab staff as well as a digital lab journal on a tablet, which provides not only experimental instructions but also interactive H5P-based learning elements and short videos.\n
Problem identified \u2013 so how can it be solved?\n
In the second part of the lab day, students take on the role of Ocean Designers<\/em> and model the \u201cideal\u201d conditions for an ocean in which as little carbon dioxide as possible dissolves, in order to reduce the resulting acidification problem. The necessary background knowledge (e.g., the chemical and physical effects of pressure or temperature on the solubility of carbon dioxide in water) is also explored through hands-on experiments at various stations.\nThe developed ocean designs are then discussed in a plenary session and critically evaluated, particularly regarding their feasibility and the underlying scientific and environmental issues. Finally, the crucial question arises: What options does an individual have to help counteract ocean acidification? A concluding brainstorming session is intended to provide food for thought<\/em> for the way home and raise awareness for the responsible use of resources in everyday life.\n\u201cCatching Up After COVID-19 for Children and Adolescents\u201d<\/em> by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) during the period from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\nRepresentational Competence\u00a0in Chemistry \u2013 An Empirical Study on the Dimensionality of the Construct and Its Relationship with\u00a0Content\u00a0Knowledge and Spatial Abilities<\/button><\/h2>\n\n
Representations are indispensable in chemistry, yet they also pose challenges for learners. Successful handling of them requires representational competence, content knowledge, and spatial abilities. The structure and interrelationships of these three factors have not yet been sufficiently studied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the context of this project, the Chemical Representation Inventory: Translation, Interpretation, Construction <\/em>(CRI:TIC) was initially developed and evaluated with a sample of N<\/em>\u202f=\u202f185 students from a chemistry preparatory course. In a follow-up study, the revised CRI:TIC, along with instruments to assess declarative content knowledge and various spatial factors, was used again in chemistry preparatory courses (N<\/em>\u202f=\u202f494). To deepen the analysis of the relationships between the three constructs, the quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data involving N<\/em>\u202f=\u202f25 participants. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe results show that mental rotation and manipulation, alongside declarative content knowledge, play a central role in successfully solving representation-based chemistry tasks. To optimize teaching and learning processes involving chemical representations, representational competence and relevant spatial factors should therefore be specifically and systematically promoted and developed \u2013 complementing (declarative) subject knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a more in-depth insight into the project: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nickel, S. (2026). Repr\u00e4sentationskompetenzen im Fach Chemie. Eine empirische Untersuchung zur Dimensionalit\u00e4t des Konstrukts und zu dessen Zusammenhang mit Fachwissen und r\u00e4umlichen F\u00e4higkeiten [Representational Competence in Chemistry \u2013 An Empirical Study on the Dimensionality of the Construct and Its Relationship with Content Knowledge and Spatial Abilities].<\/em> Logos Verlag. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.30819\/6074 <\/p>\n\n\n\nNickel, S., Brockm\u00fcller, S., Boone, W. J., & Habig, S. (2025). Measuring representational competence \u2013 analyses of dimensionality and the relationship to general content knowledge. International Journal of Science Education<\/em>, 1-25. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/09500693.2025.2515621 <\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The research interests of the chair are associated with empirical, chemistry-related teaching and learning research. We are interested in how chemistry-related learning opportunities can be designed to facilitate successful learning processes for students and what role individual learning prerequisites play in this. For example, we investigate how chemistry-related visualizations can be meaningfully integrated into learning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3486,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_rrze_cache":"enabled","_rrze_multilang_single_locale":"en_US","_rrze_multilang_single_source":"http:\/\/irgendwas.test.rrze.uni-erlangen.de\/chemie\/?page_id=37","_faue_teaser_image_id":0,"footnotes":""},"page_category":[],"page_tag":[],"workflow_usergroup":[],"class_list":["post-2249","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","en-US"],"faue_teaser_image_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2249"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3029,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2249\/revisions\/3029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_category?post=2249"},{"taxonomy":"page_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_tag?post=2249"},{"taxonomy":"workflow_usergroup","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemiedidaktik.phil.fau.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow_usergroup?post=2249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}