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This study aimed to determine students' misconceptions related to vaporization and vapor pressure. In order to fulfill this aim, open-ended diagnostic questions and semi-structured interviews were used. The diagnostic questions were administered to 70 third-year students enrolled in the Primary Science Teacher Training Department at Ataturk University in Turkey. In addition, 12 students were interviewed in order to clarify their written responses and to further probe students' conceptual understandings of the questions asked in the test. Seven different misconceptions were identified. The results have implications for tertiary-level teaching, suggesting that a substantial review of teaching strategies is needed.

This study investigated the effect of conceptual change text-oriented instruction over traditional instruction on students' understanding of solution concepts (e.g., dissolving, solubility, factors affecting solubility, concentrations of solutions, types of solutions, physical properties of solutions) and their attitudes towards chemistry. The sample of this study consisted of 87 undergraduate students from two classes enrolled in an introductory chemistry course. One of the classes was assigned randomly to the control group, and the other class were assigned randomly to the experimental group. During teaching the topic of solution concepts in the chemistry curriculum, a conceptual change text-oriented instruction was applied in the experimental group whereas traditional instruction was followed in the control group. The results showed that the students in the experimental group performed better with respect to solution concepts. In addition, it has been found that there was no significant difference between the attitudes of students in the experimental and control groups towards chemistry.

This study aimed at identifying specifically prospective chemistry teachers' difficulties in determining the differences between the concepts of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics. Data were collected from 67 prospective chemistry teachers at Kâzım Karabekir Education Faculty of Atatürk University in Turkey during 2005-2006 academic year. Data collection performed through two different instruments. In order to determine prospective teachers' difficulties in determining the differences between the concepts of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, a diagnostic test composed of five open-ended questions was specifically developed for this study. Thirteen participants (out of 67) were also interviewed in order to gather more information about the written responses. The analysis of results showed six major misconceptions about the difference between the concepts of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics indicating that the prospective chemistry teachers attempted to interpret the kinetics of several phenomena by using thermodynamics data. The findings reported here may contribute to understanding of undergraduates' difficulties and can be utilized in research that develops teaching strategies to overcome such difficulties.

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