Dane DeSutter

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Research Assistant at University of Illinois Chicago

Abstract Working memory capacity is known to predict the performance of novices and experts on a variety of tasks found in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). A common feature of STEM tasks is that they require the problem solver to encode and transform complex spatial information depicted in disciplinary representations that...

Representational competence is a target of novel learning environments given the assumption that improved representational competence improves learning in science. There exists little evidence, however, that improving representational competence is positively correlated with learning outcomes across science disciplines. In this report, we argue tha...

This paper details the development of the Mechanisms app for organic chemistry, from inception to prototype and commercial release and expansion. The early research with students and instructors is described.

Educational Impact and Implications Statement Failure and attrition rates in college science courses are disproportionately high. This problem has been attributed, in part, to the observation that science courses routinely require students to reason about complex spatial relationships, such as forces or atoms, that are imperceptible to the naked ey...

Spatial thinking is a vital component of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum. However, to date, broad development of learning environments that target domain-specific spatial thinking is incomplete. The present article visits the problem of improving spatial thinking by first reviewing the evidence that the human mind i...

Sketching as a scientific practice goes beyond the simple act of inscribing diagrams onto paper. Scientists produce a wide range of representations through sketching, as it is tightly coupled to model-based reasoning. Chemists in particular make extensive use of sketches to reason about chemical phenomena and to communicate their ideas. However, th...

Representational competence is a primary contributor to student learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and an optimal target for instruction at all educational levels. We describe the design and implementation of a learning activity that uses concrete models to improve students’ representational competence and ach...

The chemical properties of the 4,5,8-tridehydroisoquinolinium ion (doublet ground state) and related mono- and biradicals were examined in the gas phase in a dual-cell Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer. The triradical abstracted three hydrogen atoms in a consecutive manner from tetrahydrofuran (THF) and cyclohexan...

Spatial ability predicts success in STEM fields, particularly chemistry. As such, new educational models have called for learning environments that improve spatial ability. These environments neglect the role of representational competence in supporting spatial thinking in individual STEM fields. This short paper reports a preliminary investigation...

Representational competence is a vital capacity in STEM disciplines and students must form strong representational expertise. When translating between highly spatial representations, students can successfully rely on external resources to simplify the process; however, this may come at the expense of producing durable mental representations. Here w...