My academic interests are divided between science education and theoretical research in physical chemistry. The focal point of my work is the study, reflection and improvement of the process of science education; my basic research in science opens the door for the necessary reflection, which every science educator should practice, on the methodology and philosophy of the scientific work.

Currently, I am deeply involved in the development of the new science teacher preparation program in the College of Science of the University of Arizona. This work includes a variety of activities related to course design and implementation, development of educational materials, program evaluation, and educational research.

My research interests in the last few years has been directed at trying to understand how people develop the intellectual skills that characterize formal thinking and in what way science education can aid in the development of these abilities. This information is indispensable for creating educational strategies for the classroom which guide the students’ construction of knowledge and which favor significant learning. Current areas of interest include:

• The development of procedural and content knowledge in chemistry
• The aims and values of chemistry and their impact on chemical education
• Materials and methodologies for the promotion of active and inquiry-based learning
• Social, cultural and environmental influences on science education

In the last few years, I have been interested in the study of the dynamics of phase separation in fluids and solids. The evolution of a metastable phase towards stable equilibrium involves the formation of one or more new phases that nucleate within the bulk of the system. The nucleation of the new phase is an activated process where a free energy barrier must be overcome in order to form clusters of a critical size that can grow. The study of this mechanism of phase transformation has recently received a burst of attention, arising both from the development of new experimental and theoretical techniques for determining nucleation rates, and from the recognition that nucleation has important implications for atmospheric chemistry, chemical engineering, and material processing.

We have developed and applied density functional theories of statistical mechanics to calculate the free energy barriers and the properties of the critical nucleus associated to different types of phase transitions: condensation from a vapor, evaporation, crystallization, melting, and liquid-liquid phase separation. Our approach has proven successful in describing the process of nucleation in simple and complex fluids. Current areas of interest include:

• Nucleation in polar fluids
• Phase behavior of amphiphilic systems and microemulsions
• Nucleation of crystals from solution (protein crystallization)
• Surface effects on nucleation

A. Garritz and V. Talanquer. Advances and obstacles to the reform of Science Education in Secondary Schools in Mexico. World Bank (in press, 1999)

A. Barahona, R. M. Catalá, J. A. Chamizo, B. Rico y V. Talanquer. Natural Sciences Textbooks (3^rd to 6^th grade, elementary school). Secretary of Public Education, Mexico (1996-1999).

V. Talanquer. A Microcomputer simulation of the Liesegang Phenomena. J. Chem. Educ. 71 (1) 58 (1994).

V. Talanquer and G. Irazoque. Fractals, to know, to do, to simulate. The Physics Teacher. 31 (2) 72 (1993).

V. Talanquer and D. W. Oxtoby. A simple off-lattice model for microemulsions. Faraday Transactions. (in press, 1999).

V. Talanquer and D. W. Oxtoby. Crystal Nucleation in the presence of a metastable critical point. J. Chem. Phys. 109, 223 (1998).

V. Talanquer. A new phenomenological approach to gas-liquid nucleation based on the scaling properties of the critical nucleus. J. Chem. Phys. 106, 9957 (1997).

A. Laaksonen, V. Talanquer, and D. W. Oxtoby. Nucleation: Measurements, theory, and atmospheric applications. Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 46, 489 (1995).

V. Talanquer and D. W. Oxtoby. Dynamical density functional theory of gad-liquid nucleation. J. Chem. Phys. 100, 5190 (1994).