Integrating Aesthetics Education into Chemistry Education: Students Perceive, Appreciate, Explore, and Create the Beauty of Chemistry in Scientific Photography Activity

To promote the integration of aesthetic education into chemistry education, this study designed activities to photograph precipitation reaction experiments with a smartphone, thereby combining experimental inquiry with artistic creation across disciplines. These activities were divided into (i) perc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of chemical education Vol. 97; no. 6; pp. 1556 - 1565
Main Authors Ling, Yizhou, Xiang, Jiamin, Chen, Kai, Zhang, Junyao, Ren, Hongyan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Easton Division of Chemical Education, Inc 09.06.2020
American Chemical Society
Subjects
Aesthetic Education
Aesthetics
Chemical precipitation
Chemistry
College Science
College students
Colleges & universities
Education
Elementary School Science
Elementary school students
Handheld Devices
Hands on Science
High Schools
Interdisciplinary Approach
Organic Chemistry
Photography
Science activities
Science education
Science Instruction
Secondary School Science
Student Attitudes
Students
Teaching methods
Telecommunications
Undergraduate Study
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Summary:To promote the integration of aesthetic education into chemistry education, this study designed activities to photograph precipitation reaction experiments with a smartphone, thereby combining experimental inquiry with artistic creation across disciplines. These activities were divided into (i) perceiving, (ii) appreciating, (iii) exploring, and (iv) creating the beauty of chemistry. The participants first used macrophotography to capture the details and small changes of a precipitation reaction to obtain an impression of beauty. Then, they managed to understand, appreciate, and evaluate the beauty of the precipitation reaction from an artistic vision (admiring chemistry like an artist). Next, the students explored the fascinating phenomenon from a chemical perspective and looked for its inherent laws. Finally, they consistently improved the experimental and photographic methods and created works of scientific photography. These activities are suitable for students from primary school to college, and even for the general public. The experiments can be completed in only 1 min, but several hours can be spent to improve the results. In the end, most students are able to take high-quality photographs of precipitation reactions.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00857