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Grad student designs exhibit at Hefner Zoology Museum

01/24/2012

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New exhibit designed by Miami graduate student Brittany Christian opens at the Hefner Zoology Museum.

A new exhibit hosted by Miami University's Hefner Zoology Museum, "Take a Closer Look at Our Natural World," designed by Brittany Christian, a master's student in chemistry education research, will run Jan. 26-Feb. 24.

Branching into science museums is a new direction for Miami’s chemistry education research (CER) program, says Ellen Yezierski, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and Christian’s adviser. The CER program “has welcomed the chance to promote deeper conceptual understanding of chemistry in novel, informal environments.”

Christian, whose research focuses on informal chemistry education, developed the exhibit around the core topic of chemical and physical change, and on the particulate nature of matter — a fundamental aspect of chemistry. She designed it based on both published student misconceptions about the particulate nature of matter and on assessment results from a group of sixth grade physical science students. Visitors will be able to explore how everyday objects can be modeled at the particle level and participate in hands-on activities, such as constructing atomic cartoons to model observations.

As part of her research project, Christian plans to measure the exhibit for interaction quality and students’ content gains as well as changes in attitude about chemistry.

“Chemistry education research has focused predominantly on formal learning environments (e.g. schools and colleges) leaving much research to be done in informal learning environments (e.g. museums, zoos, television etc.),” Christian said. “Within the last decade, interest with informal learning environments has begun to grow, begging the question, ‘Where does chemistry fit into informal learning?’”

While science museum exhibits are plentiful, ones that focus on chemistry are rare, according to Yezierski. Christian’s exhibit makes chemistry accessible to visitors of all ages while connecting chemistry to everyday life.

The Hefner Zoology Museum, in 100 Upham Hall, is free and open 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

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Exhibit brings everyday chemistry to students.