A third perspective is chemistry education research (CER). CER is a type of discipline-based education research (DBER) focusing on the teaching and learning of chemistry. An overarching goal for chemistry education researchers is to help students develop expert-like (coherent and useful) knowledge of chemistry. Thus, the field of CER involves investigating:
* how students construct their understanding of chemical phenomena and develop practical skills relevant to the discipline;
* how CER findings can inform curriculum design, e.g. by suggesting certain learning objectives and instructional approaches;
and developing instruments to measure the above.
Following the example of physics education research (PER), CER tends to take the theories and methods developed in pre-college science education research, which generally takes place in Schools of Education, and applies them to understanding comparable problems in post-secondary settings (in addition to pre-college settings). Like science education researchers, CER practitioners tend to study the teaching practices of others as opposed to focusing on their own classroom practices. Chemistry education research is typically carried out in situ using human subjects from secondary and post-secondary schools. Chemistry education research utilizes both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Quantitative methods typically involve collecting data that can then be analyzed using various statistical methods. Qualitative methods include interviews, observations, document analysis, journaling, and other methods common to social science research.