A cross‐age study of the understanding of five chemistry concepts

Abstract

A sample of 100 students from junior high school physical science, high school chemistry, and introductory college chemistry were examined for understanding of five chemistry concepts. The concepts addressed were chemical change, dissolution of a solid in water, conservation of atoms, periodicity, and phase change. The amount of experience with the concepts (grade level) and reasoning ability (developmental level) were examined as possible sources of variation in student understanding. Differences in understanding with respect to grade level were found to be significant for the concepts of chemical change, dissolution of a solid, conservation of atoms, and periodicity. However, few of the students in the college chemistry sample exhibited sound understanding of chemical change, periodicity, or phase change. The use of particulate terms (atoms, ions, molecules) increased across the grade levels. Reasoning ability proved to be a significant factor for student understanding of conservation of atoms and periodicity. An examination of the number and types of misconceptions across the grade levels revealed several interesting patterns and suggested sources for the students' alternative conceptions.

The impact of designing and evaluating molecular animations on how well middle school students understand the particulate nature of matter

“…Other studies have similarly found that few students tend to use atomic or molecular explanations for chemical phenomena (Abraham, Williamson, & Westbrook, 1994;Hesse & Anderson, 1992). Moreover, students might demonstrate a connected but alternative understanding of a scientiÞc phenomenon at the macroscopic and molecular levels.…”

Developing An Achievement Test for Fraction Teaching: Validity and Reliability Analysis

“…It has been examined in terms of scope validity with the expert group formed by teachers and academic members. Such procedures increase the validity and reliability of the test [1,47].…”

Exploring visuospatial thinking in chemistry learning

“…The studies we will review included spatial abilities as one of the cognitive factors that may be relevant to the mastery of chemistry concepts. Other cognitive factors that have been considered by correlational research on chemistry learning included formal reasoning skills (Abraham & Westbrook, 1994;Chandran, Treagust, & Tobin, 1987;Haidar & Abraham, 1991;Keig & Rubba, 1993;Niaz, 1987Niaz, , 1988Niaz, , 1989Niaz & Robinson, 1992;Staver & Halsted, 1985), proportional reasoning skills (Anamuah-Mensah, Erickson, & Gaskell, 1987), field dependence/independence (Niaz & Lawson, 1985), and memory capacity (Niaz, 1988(Niaz, , 1989Niaz & Lawson, 1985;Niaz & Robinson, 1992). To narrow the scope of this article and focus on the visual aspect of chemistry learning, we review key findings of the correlational studies regarding chemistry learning and spatial abilities.…”