Alternative Conceptions of Chemical Bonding Held by Upper Secondary and Tertiary Students

Mental Models in Chemistry: Senior Chemistry Students’ Mental Models of Chemical Bonding

“…Second, the students' mental models were investigated using semi-structured interviews, including the use of an Interviews About Events (IAE) approach. The data from this latter part of the study helped develop an understanding of students' use of their mental models and the alternative conceptions students held about their models: the results of these latter data are reported elsewhere (see, Coll, 1999, Coll & Taylor, 2001a. The items utilized in the interviews represented focus activities.…”

“…The views were similar across all educational levels, the predominant difference being the greater detail provided by more senior students. In spite of this latter observation, the interview protocol was probing enough to uncover a large variety of conceptions across all levels (see, Coll & Taylor, 2001a,b for a detailed description of learners' alternative conceptions for chemical bonding). The richness of the data presented here, and the sheer variety of views about aspects of the bonding in a variety of substances, along with a variety of model-based explanations provided for the macroscopic events depicted on the focus cards (reported elsewhere), suggests that we have achieved a reasonably comprehensive understanding of the participants' views of the concepts under investigation.…”

Describing and analyzing learning in action: An empirical study of the importance of misconceptions in learning science

“…They agree on the relations "less noble one-forms ions" (lines 75 and 76) as well as "high electronegativity-nearly completed shells-want to accept" (lines 87 and 88), but cannot decide on the relation between the two words noble and electronegative (lines 77, 78, and 94-99). It is true that there is an encounter with a misconception concerning the concept of electronegativity (Coll & Taylor, 2001), but that is not constraining their conversation (lines 87-91). The constraint, it turns out, is the encounter with the relation "nobler metal-less electronegative" (line 77).…”

A Case Study of the Common Difficulties Experienced by High School Students in Chemistry Classroom in Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan)

“…A large number of studies in international context as well as in Pakistan have investigated students' misconception around a wide range of concepts in secondary chemistry. Some of these concepts are atoms and molecules (e.g., Griffiths & Preston, 1992;Harrison & De Jong, 2005;Teichert, Tien, Anthony, & Rickey, 2008); gases and related concepts such as temperature, pressure, kinetic molecular theory, diffusion (e.g., Benson, Wittrock, & Baur, 1993;Krnel, Watson, & Glazar, 1998); chemical bonding (e.g., Coll & Taylor, 2001;Frailich, Kesner, & Hofstein, 2009;Othman, Treagust, & Chandrasegaran, 2008); solution, solubility, and solubility equilibrium (e.g., Ebenezer & Erickson, 1996;Pinarbasi & Canpolat, 2003;Raviolo, 2001); electrochemistry and related concepts (e.g., Coll & Treagust, 2003;Sanger & Greenbowe, 1997;Taber, 1997); structure and properties of molecular and ionic compounds (e.g., Butts & Smith, 1987); particle theory (Johnson, 1998a(Johnson, , 1998bMursaleen, 1999); chemical equilibrium (e.g., Banerjee, 1991); acids and bases (e.g., Drechsler & Schmidt, 2005;Hand, 1989;Lin & Chiu, 2007;Nakhleh, 1994;Schmidt, 1995).…”