Nuts and Bolts of Chemical Education Research

Nuts and Bolts of Chemical Education Research is book that would be usefulfor the chemist who is writing the educational outreach or evaluation componentof a grant or planning his own chemical education research project. This bookbrings to the surface the key elements that are common to both. These keyelements include establishing clear goals and research questions for yourefforts: placing your outreach or research on a firm theoretical foundation sothat the results of your work expand the current state of knowledge; developingan outreach or research design that address the goals and questions asked;locating, developing and testing the validity-reliability of the tools used inthe study; selecting appropriate data analyses from quantitative, qualitative ormixed design disciplines to address the questions asked; writing conclusionsbased upon the data presented; and describing the implications of the outreachor research effort for chemistry practitioners. This book will address these keyissues from a pragmatic point of view in an effort to assist those who areengaged or considering becoming engaged in this type of scholarlyactivity.