Lost in Lewis Structures: An Investigation of Student Difficulties in Developing Representational Competence

Cooper, Melanie M.; Grove, Nathaniel P.; Underwood, Sonia M.; Klymkowsky, Michael W.

doi:10.1021/ed900004y

Cited by 173 publications

(249 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example, we found that many students (at all levels) were unable to draw Lewis structures [18], despite being given perfectly clear rules about how to do this. By interviewing students and examining their work, it emerged that students did not know why they were learning to draw these structures (i.e., to help them predict chemical and physical properties).…”

Section: Evidence-based Approaches To Teaching and Learningmentioning

confidence: 94%

Evidence-based reform of teaching and learning

Cooper

2013

Anal Bioanal Chem

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Over the years a great deal of time and attention has been devoted to reform of teaching and learning in chemistry. However, many of these efforts have focused on individual faculty's experiences and intuition, rather than our understanding of how people learn or evidence about the effects of such reforms. For example, while it is widely known that students emerge from our courses with non-scientific ideas about core concepts, the reasons why this happens are often ascribed to the students' lack of ability or work ethic. However, there is emerging evidence that both the traditional pedagogical approach and the structure of the curriculum contribute to this problem. Students must be provided both with a strong foundation on which to build and link new knowledge, and an understanding of what that knowledge will be used for. In order to achieve this we need to rely on the research base and evidence emerging from discipline-based education research (DBER)-a field that combines deep disciplinary expertise with knowledge and understanding of the science of teaching and learning. This paper presents a short overview of these ideas.

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Section: Evidence-based Approaches To Teaching and Learningmentioning

confidence: 94%

Evidence-based reform of teaching and learning

Cooper

2013

Anal Bioanal Chem

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“…As instructors, we want to develop the same experience in our students. Therefore, we aver that representational competence is a critical skill needed for students to develop a sophisticated understanding of college science topics and to succeed in their science courses and future careers [4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Network Analysis of Students' Representation Use in Problem Solving

McPadden¹,

Brewe²

2015

2015 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. We present the preliminary results of a study on student use of representations in problem solving within the Modeling Instruction Physics 2 course (MI-Phys2), which covers introductory electricity and magnetism (E&M). Representational competence is a critical skill needed for students to develop a sophisticated understanding of college science topics and to succeed in their science courses. In this study, approximately 70 students from the MI-Phys2 course were given a survey of 25 physics problem statements both pre-and post-instruction, over both Newtonian mechanics (NM) and E&M. For each problem statement, students were asked to select one or more representations the would use in that given situation. We analyze the survey results through network analysis (NA) in order to identify which students selected similar representations. We also compare the student networks for those students who had previously taken the Modeling Instruction Physics 1 course (MI-Phys1) and those students who had taken an alternative Physics 1 course.

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“…For this reason, it is expected that there will be difficulties in understanding of these concepts [10]. Some studies available in the literature report that the main problem students trying to learn chemistry have is students' failure to learn the basic concepts [12,13,14]. From this point on, the purpose of this study is to examine the preservice chemistry teachers' understanding of periodic table concepts and some atomic properties.…”

Section: Purpose Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of the preservice chemistry teachers’ understanding of periodic table concepts

Şen

2018

SHS Web Conf.

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Abstract. The purpose of this study was to examine the preservice chemistry teachers' understanding of periodic table concepts and some atomic properties. The study group of this study was comprised of 17 preservice chemistry teachers who were undergraduate students at a public University. The preservice teachers' ages are between 19 and 26, and the mean is 21.12 (SD=1.83). In addition, the 14 of the preservice teachers are female and three are male. In the study, concept maps and lotus blossom technique were used as data collection tools in order to determine the understanding of preservice chemistry teachers about the periodic table concepts. Data obtained through these techniques was analysed to figure out the useful of these assessment tools. The results of the analysis indicated that preservice teachers have limited understanding of the periodic table and its properties. In addition, at the end of the study, it was determined that they have many misunderstanding.

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Lost in Lewis Structures: An Investigation of Student Difficulties in Developing Representational Competence

Cited by 173 publications

References 35 publications

Evidence-based reform of teaching and learning

Evidence-based reform of teaching and learning

Network Analysis of Students' Representation Use in Problem Solving

Examination of the preservice chemistry teachers’ understanding of periodic table concepts

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