在新西兰，募捐义卖也是一课

小胖儿的学校最近在组织孩子们募捐义卖,这在新西兰的中小学是很普遍的活动。朋友的孩子在来到新西兰进入名校后,还处在对一切都懵懵懂懂的陌生阶段时,就被同学带着参加了她在新西兰学校的第一个活动——募捐。募捐的目的各不相同,有的是为癌症基金会,有的是为残疾人,有的是为贫穷或生了重病的孩子,甚至有的就是为学校募集改善某项体育设施的资金。这种募捐可能出现在任何场合:商店、街头、娱乐场所等等,而孩子们采用得更多的是上门募捐。我们在家里就没少接待这样的孩子,有的是卖一块糖果,有的干脆就是拿着钱袋募集硬币,但每个孩子都是非常…     

Emergence,Learning Difficulties,and Misconceptions in Chemistry Undergraduate Students’ Conceptualizations of Acid Strength

Philosophical debates about chemistry have clarified that the issue of emergence plays a critical role in the epistemology and ontology of chemistry. In this article, it is argued that the issue of emergence has also significant implications for understanding learning difficulties and finding ways of addressing them in chemistry. Particularly, it is argued that many misconceptions in chemistry may derive from students’ failure to consider emergence in a systemic manner by taking into account all relevant factors in conjunction. Based on this argument, undergraduate students’ conceptions of acids, and acid strength (an emergent chemical property) were investigated and it was examined whether or not they conceptualized acid strength as an emergent chemical property. The participants were 41 third- and fourth-year undergraduate students. A concept test and semi-structured interviews were used to probe students’ conceptualizations and reasoning about acid strength. Findings of the study revealed that the majority of the undergraduate students did not conceptualize acid strength as an emergent property that arises from interactions among multiple factors. They generally focused on a single factor to predict and explain acid strength, and their faulty responses stemmed from their failure to recognize and consider all factors that affect acid strength. Based on these findings and insights from philosophy of chemistry, promoting system thinking and epistemologically sound argumentative discourses among students is suggested for meaningful chemical education.