Multiple chemistry education research studies at the secondary level have characterized students’ difficulties regarding a conceptual understanding of the quantum model of the atom. This research explores undergraduate students’ interpretations of multiple representations of the atom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with first-year university chemistry students (n= 26) and second-semester physical chemistry students (n= 8) after they were taught and tested on the quantum model of the atom in their respective courses. During the interview, students were asked to interpret four representations of the atom (an electron cloud model, a probability representation, a boundary surface representation, and the Bohr model) and to rank each of the representations from most preferred to the least preferred. Nearly two-thirds of the students ranked the electron cloud and Bohr-model as their two most preferred representations. Students invoked ideas from classical mechanics to interpret the electron cloud model and used probabilistic language to describe the Bohr model of the atom.
This article describes the development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory (QuPRI) as a measure of student understanding of the electron structure of the atom. The QuPRI was created using a mixed-method sequential design such that the items and distractors were generated on the basis of the analysis of semistructured interviews in which students were asked to interpret multiple representations of the electron structure of hydrogen, helium, and carbon atoms. The QuPRI was administered to first-semester general chemistry students (N = 655) and physical chemistry/biophysical chemistry students (N = 38). Descriptive statistics and item function are presented for each sample, including evidence for the reliability and validity of the data generated by the QuPRI. Students' confidence in their responses and reasoning about the electron structure of atoms is discussed.
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