Prospective Chemistry Teachers’ Conceptions of Chemical Thermodynamics and Kinetics

Abstract

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.

Student oriented approaches in the teaching of thermodynamics at universities – developing an effective course structure

“…For a thermodynamics course in chemistry, students' alternative conceptions about chemical equilibrium are especially important due to the central role this concept plays in the field. On a more general level, the connection between kinetic concepts and equilibrium poses problems for many students (Banerjee, 1995;Sözbilir et al, 2010;Turányi and Tóth, 2013) as they maintain, for example, that a fast reaction goes to full completion (Sözbilir, 2002). On a more general level, the connection between kinetic concepts and equilibrium poses problems for many students (Banerjee, 1995;Sözbilir et al, 2010;Turányi and Tóth, 2013) as they maintain, for example, that a fast reaction goes to full completion (Sözbilir, 2002).…”

Study of the Use of the Three Levels of Thinking and Representation

“…Interviews, both individual [55,56] and in a group [57][58][59][60], have been successfully used as data collection instruments in educational studies when looking for in-depth explanations. Details about the instruments and the procedures are given elsewhere [32,43].…”

Point Mass or Little Billiard Ball? Molecular Dynamics Simulations Enhance Students’ Mental Models on the Ideal Gas Law in Tertiary Chemistry Studies

“…Laut Hernandeze tal. [7]f ührtd iesa berz ue iner unreflektiertenV erwendungv on Rechenrezepten,o hned as füre ines innvolle Problemlçsungn otwendigeK onzeptverständniszufçrdern.Dementsprechend istesumdas studentische Konzeptverständnisi nd er universitärenL ehre nichtg ut bestellt: Goedhart und Kaper [8]b eklagene inem angelnde Ausschärfungv on Kernbegriffen, eine fehlende molekulare Vorstellung, diem angelnde Unterscheidung vonS ystemu nd Umgebung unde in weit verbreitetes Unwissen bezüglichd er Gültigkeitsbedingungen.F olgerichtigw urden beif achwissenschaftlichen undLehramtsstudierenden vielfältigeFehlvorstellungen im Bereichd er chemischen Energetikund Kinetikauf universitärerE bene identifiziert [ 9,10]. DieS t ärkungdes studentischen Konzeptverständnisses wird dahera ls eine der großen Herausforderungend er physikochemischen Lehreb etrachtet [5].…”