how motivation and cognitive factors affect chemistry achievement;
how dynamic visualizations (i.e., animations and simulations) can encourage active learning and develop thinking strategies that rely on visualization and other mental processes;
how laboratory instruction that targets the essence of scientific investigations (i.e., predict-observe-explain chemical phenomena) can help students understand chemical phenomena;
how an application-based textbook (e.g., Chemistry in Context) affects students' motivation and conceptual understanding of chemistry;
how students' conceptual understanding of molecular processes can be assessed via their drawings and explanations (i.e., their mental models); and,
how the integration of lecture (theory) and laboratory (experiments) can help students develop meaningful learning strategies that express "creativity" in the sciences (i.e., generative and analytical thinking.)