Integrating organic chemical-based socio-scientific issues comics into chemistry classroom: expanding chemists’ toolbox

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants of the study.

	Semester I (2018/2019)	Semester II (2019/2020)	Total
Male	6	8	14
Female	12	15	27
Total	18	23	41

Table 2. Research process in this activity.

	Students	Lecturer
Week 2	Introduction of comic drawing activity and learning about SSI	Briefing about the activities including seeking their prior permission and introduction of current activity Explaining SSI
Week 3	Taking one pre-survey and guiding participants on how to draw comic with digital tools	Administering the Questionnaire on the Awareness of Organic Chemistry-Based SSI (35) before the commence of this activity. Explaining comic drawing software and assessments which will be conducted throughout this activity and deadlines. Asking students to register their topic of interest of SSI via the Google Forms
Week 4∼7	Drawing SSI comic	Monitoring students’ progress weekly via WhatsApp group chat.
Week 8	Online submission of comic drawing and writing reflective essays	Checking students’ comics and reflective essays in the LMS Inviting students to view their fellow classmates’ works on the LMS.
Week 10	Taking two post-surveys	Administering the Questionnaires on the Awareness of Organic Chemistry-Based SSI and the Questionnaire on the Implementation of Comic Drawing Activity after the end of this activity.

Figure 1. Example of student comic on the microplastic SSI (adapted with permission).

Table 3. Topics of interest chosen by students.

Topic chosen	Number of students
Plastic pollution	18
Pesticides and the environment	9
Global warming	7
Antibiotic-resistant issue	1
Diethanolamine	1
Volatile organic compound (VOC)	1
Total	37

Figure 2. Example of student concept cartoon on pesticide (carbamate) and the environment SSI (adapted with permission).

Figure 3. Example of student concept cartoon on the global warming caused by the CFC (adapted with permission).

Figure 4. Example of student concept cartoon on the antibiotic-resistant SSI (adapted with permission).

Figure 5. Example of student concept cartoon on the volatile organic compound SSI (adapted with permission).

Figure 6. Example of student’s reflective essay from the LMS.

Table 4. Representative quotes of students’ understanding about the organic chemical-based SSI as shown in their reflective essays.

Issue	Representative quotes
Plastics pollution	‘It was surprise to learn that mankind had consumed 39000–42000 microplastic particles per year.’ [Student 6]
Pesticides and environment	‘The danger of the use of pesticide should not be under-estimated as it causes environmental havoc and threatening the biodiversity.’ [Student 11]
Global warming	‘The use of CFC is one of the greenhouse gases that depleted the ozone level, thus causing the global warming.’ [Student 26]
Antibiotic-resistant	‘Among the so many pharmaceuticals, antibiotics have received special attention for their wide application in human therapy and livestock agriculture. Unscrupulous disposal of antibiotics into the environment can results in the emergence of resistant bacteria strains that results in public health concerns.’ [Student 29]
Diethanolamine	‘Diethanolamine may cause skin irritation and negative effect to liver and kidneys’ [Student 40]
VOC	‘VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Also, they could be used as potential chemical weapons in future.’ [Student 32]

Figure 7. Students’ familiarity change on the SSI-based ESD.

Table 5. Students' awareness change on the SSI-based ESD as shown in the 5-point Likert scale* survey form.

Topic	Mean ± SD (N = 41)		t	p
	Before course	At end
Plastic pollution [PP]	2.7 ± 0.63	4.5 ± 0.64	−13.384	.000
Pesticides (carbamates, triazines, DDT, 2,4-D) and the environment SSI [PEST]	2.9 ± 0.79	4.8 ± 0.46	−12.608	.000
Global warming SSI [GW]	3.2 ± 0.70	4.6 ± 0.59	−9.853	.000
Antibiotic-resistant SSI [ANT]	2.0 ± 0.84	4.4 ± 0.67	−15.097	.000
Diethanolamine SSI [DE]	1.9 ± 0.83	4.2 ± 0.79	−14.676	.000
Volatile organic compound (Benzene) SSI [VOC]	1.5 ± 0.60	4.1 ± 0.84	−14.154	.000

*Likert five-scale; 1 = None; 2 = Limited; 3 = Somewhat familiar; 4 = Familiar; 5 = Very familiar.

Table 6. Students’ response on the implemented activity for semester II 2018/2019 and semester I 2019/2020 (N = 41).

Question	Rate^a					M (SD)
	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the intellectual challenge posed by current activity.	0	0	0	18	23	4.56 (0.50)
Rate the effectiveness of the current activity in the learning of organic chemistry.	0	0	0	20	21	4.51 (0.50)
Rate the effectiveness of the current activity to promote autonomy learning.	0	0	0	17	24	4.59 (0.49)
Rate the effectiveness of the current activity to promote the ESD	0	0	0	7	34	4.83 (0.37)

^a Likert five-scale; 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neutral; 4 = Agree; 5 = strongly agree.

Caspers, M.L.; Roberts-Kirchhoff, E.S. Incorporation of Ethical and Societal Issues in Biochemistry into a Senior Seminar Course. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ. 2003, 31, 298–302. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bmb.2003.494031050258.

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