Exploring How Encoding Modality Affects Memory Performance in Organic Chemistry

Abstract

Models of chemical structures and processes play a vital role in chemistry learning as they help students visualize sub-microscopic entities that are invisible to the naked eye. However, despite the plethora of psychological studies on how information is processed in the mind, particularly how drawing a picture of the referent of a word helps us remember the word better, we still know little about how the human brain holds and manipulates memory of chemical models. The works presented in this thesis were designed to address the shortage of memory research in chemistry education as well as the lack of applicability of psychological research in science teaching. Specifically, I explored the effect of encoding modality on learners’ recall and recognition memory of chemical names and structures. In the series on online experiments in Chapter 3, I found that writing was the most effective encoding mode to help undergraduate students recognize chemical names, but the same mode undermined their recognition memory of chemical structures. Analysis of data from the graduate student and faculty groups revealed that the recognition memory of chemical names produced by the drawing mode improved with participants’ level of expertise. Thus, I demonstrated that representational competence for the stimuli was requisite for drawing to be beneficial to students’ learning of chemical names. In Chapter 4, I explored the effect of encoding modality on students’ recall of chemical names and structures in the context of an authentic classroom. Statistical analyses revealed that drawing produced the best recall of chemical structures, but there was no significant difference in recall of chemical names produced by the different modes. Overall, the findings in this series of works deviated from psychological research claims about the superior benefits of drawing for memory of verbal information and revealed unique memory outcomes that are specific to the context of learning chemical names and structures. Recommendations for teaching and learning of organic chemistry were made.