Chemistry education research is a well-established field that has the potential to inform chemistry teaching at all levels. But to the uninitiated, much of the work can seem descriptive while quantitative studies often suffer from a lack of reproducibility. Here I delve into these characteristics and explain why this should not deter chemistry teachers from engaging.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Gilbert, J. K. et al. (eds) Chemical Education: Research-based Practice (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002).
Kuhn, T. S. The essential tension: Tradition and innovation in scientific research. In The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change 225–239 (University of Chicago Press, 1977).
Taber, K. S. Experimental research into teaching innovations: responding to methodological and ethical challenges. Stud. Sci. Educ. 55, 69–119 (2019).
Taber, K. S. Ethical considerations of chemistry education research involving ‘human subjects’. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 15, 109–113 (2014).
Taber, K. S. Chemistry lessons for universities? A review of constructivist ideas. Univ. Chem. Educ. 4, 26–35 (2000).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Taber, K.S. Is educational research science, superstition or confidence trick?. Nat Rev Chem 8, 153–154 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00582-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00582-6
- Springer Nature Limited