The present study outlines the development and validation of a four-tier diagnostic instrument to explore first year undergraduate students’ understanding of chemical kinetics (FTDICK). The four-tier instrument is a recent format and has been applied only sparsely in a limited number of subject areas, not including chemical kinetics. This study confirms the importance of a four-tier approach in fully investigating students’ poor knowledge and understanding. The FTDICK described here involves 20 questions with a confidence level linked to both the question tier and the reason tier. The development of the instrument followed the procedure used for the two-tier instrument developed by Treagust and involves (1) testing & interviewing, (2) identifying & collecting students’ unscientific ideas, (3) developing the prototype FTDICK, (4) validating the prototype FTDICK, and (5) developing the final FTDICK. The initial steps revealed a number of areas of misconceptions to be explored in the final instrument. The instrument has been developed and the prototype tested using international cohorts of students from the University of Reading, UK and two Indonesian Universities. Comprehensive item analysis on the results showed the instrument to be valid and reliable and suitable for identifying students’ understanding of chemical kinetics. This study confirms the importance of a four-tier approach for investigating students’ prior knowledge and understanding.

This study aimed to determine the contribution of multiple representation-based learning through cognitive dissonance strategy and to reduce misconceptions encountered by chemistry students. A mixed method research with the embedded experimental design was employed in this study involving 66 sophomore students enrolled in the Basics of Analytical Chemistry class. This study used a threetier test diagnostic test of 43 questions that had been validated by the education teams and chemists. The analysis was done by using a t-test and N-gain. The results showed a significant difference between the experimental and the control classes and a greater increase in N-gain in the experimental class (68.56%) compared to the control class (42.42%). The most effective reduction of misconceptions occurred in the subject of argentometric titration, from 33.41 to 8.79 %. This indicates that MRCD cannot completely eliminate misconceptions, especially for concepts related to sub-microscopic and symbolic representations.

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Virtual and concrete models have been of interest in chemistry teaching to improve students’ understanding of a three-dimensional representation of chemical concepts such as symmetry. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using concrete and virtual models on students’ understanding of symmetry. Students’ understanding was also explored in light of their spatial ability. The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design with 62 students as participants. Two different instruments, spatial ability and understanding of symmetry tests, were employed for data collection. Data analysis was performed using the Pearson product-moment correlation and two-way variance analysis test. The results showed the virtual model’s contribution to improving students’ understanding of symmetry is higher than that of the concrete model for both students with high spatial ability (HSA) and low spatial ability (LSA). Also, the better students’ spatial ability, the better their understanding of molecular symmetry.

The ability to use Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) plays a substantial role in determining students’ success in future studies. Therefore, it is important that students’ ability in this skill is continually refined by training and assessment. This paper explores the responses of first-year university students’ to a range of pictorial-style questions in chemical kinetics that require the use of HOTS. 80 food science and 57 chemistry students (137 in total) at The University of Reading (UoR) participated in the study. The results showed that many students demonstrated limited ability to answer HOTS questions. The implications for the teaching of chemical kinetics, particularly at the university level, are discussed.