Atomic Theories That Preservice Science Teachers Confuse and Underlying Reasons

Abstract

Students come across with the notion of atom almost every year during their education life. Higher conceptual understandings of atomic theories among science teachers is of crucial importance in their understanding of physics and chemistry courses. In this sense, the purpose of the present study is to investigate which of the atomic theories science teachers often confuse and to discuss the possible reasons behind the confusion of one theory with the other. This study used the phenomenology method of qualitative research. Participants of the study were comprised of 55 first and second year university students attending the Department of Science Teaching during the 2015-2016 academic year. In order to discover the most confusing atomic theories and the reasons of this confusion, students were asked to write down the atomic theories that they often confuse with one another and the reasons why they do so. Using content analysis, two independent coders analyzed the collected data. The result of the analyses revealed that students mostly got confused between Bohr's Atomic Theory and Modern Atomic Theory. It was also found that the underlying reasons of this confusion were that "In both theory, the protons and neutrons are found together at the center of the atom (the nucleus) surrounded by electrons spinning around it" and "students cannot differentiate between the concepts of layer, orbit and shell", and some recommendations were offered concerning the instruction of these subjects.

Addressing student misconceptions about atoms and examining instructor strategies for overcoming them

“…A brief summary of the theories of the atoms should be taught (in one or two class hours), followed by a detailed presentation of the modern atomic theory. Similar suggestions were made by Bilir et al (2018). With aging, humans' mental perceptions also improve, and their abilities to acquire cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor behaviors increase (Sahin et al, 2022).…”

“…Hejnová and Králík (2019) allege that students' misconceptions are the result of classical physics presentations about the atom in primary and secondary schools, as well as sub-level presentations. Numerous studies have found that students have difficulty understanding and learning this abstract and complicated concept (Bilir et al, 2018;Cokelez & Duman, 2005;Cokelez & Yalçın, 2012;Griffiths & Preston, 1992). According to various studies, misconceptions in the minds of students are caused by ideas that do not reflect the facts in the historical development of scientific concepts taught in elementary schools (Griffiths & Preston, 1992;Hejnová & Králík, 2019).…”

“…According to these researchers, the subject of theories of the atom should be presented holistically without any loose points between the subjects, and the limitations and deficiencies of each theory should be emphasized when teaching them. According to Bilir et al (2018), the theories of the atom should be taught separately in one class hour to prevent gaps between them. In this way, theories of the atoms will be presented holistically.…”

“…To determine students' level of understanding of the concept of the atom and their misconceptions, the status of the concept of the atom in course-books, mental models of the atom, and the effect of different methods of teaching the concept of the atom, various studies have been conducted. It has been stated in almost all studies that it is difficult to understand the concept of atoms, and that students have many misconceptions about it (Akyol, 2009;Alkan, 2022;Ayaz, 2020;Aygen 2019;Basaran & Gozutok, 2022;Bilir et al, 2018;Cardoso et al, 2020;Cokelez & Duman, 2005;Demirci et al, 2016;Ekinci & Sen, 2020;Hejnová, & Králík, 2019;Kilici, 2019;Kiriktaş, 2023;Ozkan, 2019;Yaseen & Akangul, 2016;Zarkadis et al, 2020). In all grade levels, there was a significant difference between students' mental models and atomic model representations in textbooks (Yaseen & Akangul, 2016).…”