Information for teachers

Take part!

Background

A large number of abstract formalisms have been established in chemistry to describe chemical compounds and reaction mechanisms, which fulfill different functions when required. Chemists select a suitable formalism depending on the application and context, but are also able to translate between different modes of representation when necessary.

Since the communication of chemical knowledge would be much more difficult without suitable formalisms, pupils and students learn different notations of chemical formulas from the beginning of their chemistry lessons or studies and continuously develop their scientific communication skills.

For example, the ability to express chemical relationships in technical language and with the help of chemical formulas is emphasized as a basic competence in the framework curriculum for Matura schools of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK). Accordingly, the ability to use chemical formulas as a technical language communication skill is regularly included in the cantonal curricula for baccalaureate schools.

It should not be underestimated how versatile and complex the language of chemical formulae is. The diagrams shown in Figure 1 describe the composition (a), the structure of the compound shown (b-d) and provide information on the spatial arrangement (e,f) as required.

Since molecules of the same composition can have different spatial arrangements, which can lead to drastically different reactions, projections such as Fisher, Natta, Haworth or Newman projections emphasize selected aspects of the spatial arrangement (Fig. 2).

Without basic subject-specific reading and writing skills, students can neither successfully complete a chemistry degree nor pursue a career related to chemistry. Many students find it difficult to use their logical thinking skills when dealing with abstract representations of scientific concepts that require a high degree of spatial visualization to understand (Fig. 3).

While experts can fluently translate between different representations and between macroscopic, symbolic and sub-microscopic levels, novices must first build up the mental models required for this. This is a process that requires external support.

Project aims and objectives

The OrChemSTAR project investigates how learners can be supported by an augmented reality application that displays chemical compounds in different representations directly in the learning material in three dimensions, provides adaptive feedback on chemical formulas written or drawn by the learners themselves, and adaptively guides them through individualized learning paths.

To carry out this research project, an AR app (OrChemSTAR) is being developed with several functions to support learners:

1. Chemical formulas in printed or handwritten texts are recognized after being recorded by the camera and multiple representations of the chemical compounds are placed over the text in appropriate places to support the reading of the formula. Learning aids are provided for selected chemical compounds and known learning difficulties.
2. The app is also designed to recognize typical errors in hand-drawn chemical formulas. For this purpose, drawings of selected compounds are collected from learners. Based on these drawings, an artificial intelligence module is trained to recognize hand-drawn structural formulas.
3. The app will have a tutor mode that supports learners in learning a representation method and in writing/drawing formulas by adaptively designing individual learning paths.

Participatory action research

We would like to invite you to become part of an innovative initiative that aims to sustainably improve our students’ understanding and skills in the field of chemistry. At the heart of our project is the creation of a Participatory Action Research group dedicated to exploring and overcoming the difficulties that learners experience when reading and creating structural formulas.

Participatory Action Research is a collaborative approach that aims to develop practical solutions to concrete problems by combining research and practice. By joining us, you will not only become part of a team striving to tackle didactic challenges in chemistry education, but you will also have the unique opportunity to directly contribute to the development of an app. This app is specifically designed to make it easier for students to learn different ways of representing chemical structures and to draw chemical structural formulas.

Your expertise as chemistry teachers is invaluable for this project. You know the everyday challenges in the classroom and understand best where learners encounter difficulties. By participating in the Participatory Action Research Group, you will not only offer us insights into these challenges, but also actively contribute to designing innovative and didactically sound learning pathways that are relevant both in the classroom and beyond.

Together, we can create a learning environment that enables students to intuitively understand and apply chemistry concepts. Your involvement allows us to build a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical application, and ensures that the solutions developed are directly tailored to the needs and challenges in the classroom.

We look forward to your expertise, your commitment and your creativity in this exciting project. Together we can make a significant difference to the learning success of our students and prepare them optimally for the challenges of the world of chemistry.

The easiest way is to take part in the online survey first. At the end of the survey, you will be given the opportunity to indicate your interest in joining the Participatory Action Research Group.

Tasks for drawing structural formulas

So that we can reliably recognize the structural formulas drawn by learners and the errors they contain, we must first train an AI model. For this we need many hand-drawn structural formulas from as many people as possible – so that not only our own handwriting but also that of your students can be recognized.

First, we focus on the following elements:

• Atoms: C, H, O, N, S, Fl, Cl, Br, I
• Bonds: Single bonds, double bonds, triple bonds, wedge notation
• Free electrons and free electron pairs
• Single-positive and single-negative charges

Here we provide you with seven two-page worksheets in which the learners have to draw ten formulas each:

Level	Themen	bearbeitbar (DOCX)	direkt druckbar (PDF)
1	Einfache Verbindungen	Strukturformeln_L1.docx	Strukturformeln_L1.pdf
2	Alkane, Alkanole, Alkanale, Carbonsäuren	Strukturformeln_L2.docx	Strukturformeln_L2.pdf
3	Alkane, Alkene, Alkine	Strukturformeln_L3.docx	Strukturformeln_L3.pdf
4	Alkanole, Alkanale, Ether, Ketone	Strukturformeln_L4.docx	Strukturformeln_L4.pdf
5	Halogene, Halogenverbindungen	Strukturformeln_L5.docx	Strukturformeln_L5.pdf
6	Stickstoffverbindungen, Ionen	Strukturformeln_L6.docx	Strukturformeln_L6.pdf
7	Stereochemie, Hydroxycarbonsäuren, weitere Verbindungen	Strukturformeln_L7.docx	Strukturformeln_L7.pdf
	Alle Arbeitsblätter in einer PDF		Strukturformeln_alle.pdf

It would help us a lot if you could send us completed task sheets by post or scanned by e-mail. Please remove any names of pupils that have been entered (cut off the top corner). The easiest way is to upload scanned task sheets via the following link: https://drive.switch.ch/index.php/s/zRYYSeGQz9B66kw