<br/>Chemists serve a critical role in society by generating new knowledge that can be used to solve problems (e.g., climate change) as well as advance society. The generation of new knowledge happens through engagement of scientific practices (e.g., analyzing and interpreting data). One of the purposes of doctoral education in the chemical sciences is to train the next generation of chemists capable of independently generating this new knowledge. Socialization and Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory are two Frameworks that have been used to describe this development process from novice to practicing chemist. Within these theories, an important element to the development of the trainee is their perceptions of what is required for the profession and their understanding of what is necessary to carry out the task. This qualitative study investigated what chemistry students perceive as the things that scientists do as they generate new knowledge through semi-structured interviews with five undergraduates and 14 graduate students. Analysis of the transcripts identified 13 distinct activities discussed by students, with most of these activities being visible things observed by students. During the interviews, some students also talked about these activities happening in a particular order (e.g., scientific method) while other students emphasized that science is “messy,” and these activities are interconnected. These findings highlight that chemists may have a range of perceptions of the things that scientists do and it is important for experts (i.e., research advisors) to be aware of these perceptions and make visible the more salient activities of practicing chemists.

Qualitatively investigating what chemistry undergraduate and graduate students perceive as the activities that scientists do

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