A Review of Research on the Teaching and Learning of Chemical Bonding

Abstract

We review the literature, from 2006 to 2020, focused on the teaching and learning of chemical bonding. The studies included in our review (48 studies set in 19 different countries overall) involved secondary and postsecondary students as well as K-12 teachers and university faculty. We synthesize these studies' findings to provide implications for future research and instruction. To this end, our analysis summarizes the range of methodological choices employed and reports on students' understanding of chemical bonding. On the basis of our analysis, we find that studies tended to overemphasize the cataloging of alternative conceptions in the context of first-year general chemistry, which suggests the need for more work that emphasizes students' reasoning regarding advanced models of bonding in higher levels of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum.

Why much of Chemistry may be indisputably non-bonded?

“…TANG, 1982). Moreover, it should be noticed that many other singular contributions have been documented (RO-DRÍGUEZ et al, 2016), either from the theoretical insights as aforesaid or even those based on experimental procedures (CHOPRA, 2012), all of them greatly important along the genealogy of the chemical bond (HUNTER; RODRIGUEZ;BECKER, 2022;RITTER, 2016), so to speak.…”

The use of frameworks in chemistry education research

“…Importantly, the ACCM is not theoretical in nature; that is, it would provide little interpretive, predictive, or explanatory power in a study. Nevertheless, the ACCM can still be used as part of data analysis; for example, deductive coding using the ACCM can be a productive approach to develop themes related to content coverage within studies in a systematic review (Bain and Towns, 2016;Hunter et al, 2022). Similarly, This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2023 Chem.…”

What resources do high school students activate to link energetic and structural changes in chemical reactions? – A qualitative study

“…In their review of ''Research on the Teaching and Learning of Chemical Bonding'', Hunter et al (2022) annotate that most of the reviewed studies interpret students' alternative conceptions as ''strongly held, stable cognitive structures''. They argue that this point of view on student conceptions may impact the results drastically and conclude:…”