Proposed pedagogies for teaching and learning chemical bonding in secondary education

Abstract

In a preceding publication (Tsaparlis, G., Pappa, E. T., & Byers, B. (2018). Teaching and learning chemical bonding: Research-based evidence for misconceptions and conceptual difficulties experienced by students in upper secondary schools and the effect of an enriched text. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 19(4), 1253–1269), we reviewed previous studies on students’ misconceptions and conceptual difficulties with the topic of chemical bonding and tested the knowledge of tenth-grade Greek students on certain key aspects of bonding. In addition, we presented an enriched teaching text on this topic for the tenth grade and examined its effectiveness with regard to the same aspects of bonding. In the present study, we review earlier studies, which made proposals concerning the teaching of this topic, and provide some proposals of our own, based on the findings of our previous study. We recommend that a spiral curriculum spanning all three upper-secondary grades should be adopted. A learning progressions approach, employing lower and upper anchors of relevant scientific knowledge is considered, and a proposed list of potential core concepts, lever concepts, and stepping-stones are presented. Finally, the pros and cons of a modern qualitative quantum mechanical approach to bonding are considered.

Examination of Pre-Service Science Teachers' Model Based-Content Knowledge and Knowledge of Students’ Understanding on Chemical Bonds

“…Science teachers should be aware that students may have many mental model structures that are inconsistent with scientific explanations for chemical bond models. Because the relevant literature emphasizes that students have developed many misconceptions about chemical bonding (Ortiz, 2019;Tsaparlis et al, 2020;Vrabec & Prokša, 2016). These misunderstandings about chemical bonds include failures to comprehend phenomena such as the type of chemical bond, electron transfer or sharing, octet rule, ion structure, compound structure, electrostatic force, and electron configuration (Bergqvist & Chang Rundgren, 2017).…”

Use of One-to-One Ipad in Primary School to Teach the Concept of Energy in Physics: A Case Study

“…Based on these two approaches, the authors proposed a project some years before to teach energy (Tsiouri & Kotsis, 2018). The difficulty of understanding the concept of energy is clear from the fact that there are misconceptions not on the students of secondary education (Tsaparlis et al, 2020;Panagou et al, 2021;Ozkan & Topsakal, 2021;Ilham et al, 2022) but also at the University students (Evangelou & Kotsis, 2004;Prince, 2012;Avci, 2021;Assem et al, 2023) and adults (Martins et al, 2019;Martins et al, 2021).…”

GamesBond: A Game-based Supplemental Teaching Material for Ionic and Covalent Bonding

“…Teachers and students admit that chemistry may be the most problematic and challenging subject, resulting in students’ reluctance to continue with studies in chemistry . Even though chemical bonding is an essential topic in chemistry education, curriculum designers, instructors, and students have found it to be particularly difficult to teach and learn . Students have difficulties in some chemistry topics, such as chemical bonding, wherein they have difficulty understanding its abstract nature, concepts, and terms .…”

“…8 Even though chemical bonding is an essential topic in chemistry education, curriculum designers, instructors, and students have found it to be particularly difficult to teach and learn. 9 Students have difficulties in some chemistry topics, such as chemical bonding, wherein they have difficulty understanding its abstract nature, concepts, and terms. 10 It is proposed that in order to improve students' learning experiences in the classroom and offer them useful and pertinent materials for independent study, chemistry teachers should be aware of these challenges and employ various teaching techniques.…”