Neuroscience Engagement: The Influences of Chemistry Education on Affective Dimensions - Affective Dimensions in Chemistry Education - page 228

of reorganization and memory, their understanding of the content knowledge of
chemistry, or their operation of the representations of chemical structural formulas.
In contrast, the affective dimensions of chemistry learning focus on students

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learning emotions. Although the cognitive dimension of chemistry learning could
help students

understanding while learning chemistry, the affective dimension can
decide their intentional learning and learning directions. In other words, the affec-
tive aspect guides what contents of chemistry students choose to learn and how they
learn them. Before students learn chemistry, therefore, these affective dimensions
need to be clarified.
Both cognitive and affective dimensions of chemistry learning are difficult to
assess by only using questionnaires or interviews. With regard to the cognitive
dimension, past studies have indicated that many cognitive processes are difficult to
explain verbally, such as mental rotation or memory, and these studies suggest that
a good way to explore human cognitive processing is to use neuroscience method-
ologies (Bragh & Ferguson, 2000 ; Huang & Liu, 2012 ; Liu et al., 2013 a). Why is it
worth investigating humans

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cognitive processing using such methodologies?
Spitzer ( 2012 ) suggests some important reasons. He argues that “to understand
learning is to understand the brain” (p. 1) and indicates that neuroscience is just the
beginning step in uncovering the complex cognitive processing of attention, per-
ception, emotion, evaluation, and actions. He also addresses an interesting meta-
phor—that “brain-based learning” is a phrase as meaningful as “leg-based
running.” It is a very interesting and important comment. We need to understand
clearly how the brain thinks because human thinking is based on the work of the
brain. Thus, it is reasonable and essential to understand the cognitive dimension via
the use of neuroscience methodologies.
In terms of the affective dimension, in previous studies affective feedback has
generally been collected from students

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self-reports, but those responses are more
subjective than biological evidence. Therefore, some studies have suggested that
research on affective processes must combine neuroscience methodologies such as
electroencephalograms (EEG), event-related potentials (ERPs), and functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), combined with questionnaires and interviews
(Huang & Liu, 2012 ; Liu et al., 2013 a; Wang, Chiew, & Zhong, 2010 ). However,
compared to the cognitive dimension, the affective dimension is less often
discussed in chemistry learning. Therefore, in this chapter, we investigate how
the learning of chemistry can be improved through an understanding of the affective
dimension by engaging neuroscience methodologies and then conclude with further
implications for teaching.

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