The Impact of Representations of Chemical Bonding on Students' Predictions of Chemical Properties

Autor/inn/en	Farheen, Ayesha; Lewis, Scott E.
Titel	The Impact of Representations of Chemical Bonding on Students' Predictions of Chemical Properties
Quelle	In: Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 22 (2021) 4, S.1035-1053 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Farheen, Ayesha) ORCID (Lewis, Scott E.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1756-1108
DOI	10.1039/d1rp00070e
Schlagwörter	Science Instruction; Chemistry; Scientific Concepts; Concept Formation; Prediction; Molecular Structure; College Science; Visual Aids + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Chemie; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Vorhersage; Anschauungsmaterial
Abstract	Representations are ubiquitous in chemistry. They are part of the chemistry language instructors use to communicate chemistry phenomenon to students. Literature calls in support of learning with multiple representations, but there is a pre-requisite for students to learn from a single representation. In this exploratory study, 1086 students in second semester general chemistry were randomly assigned to one of four representations showing bonding of sulfur dioxide: chemical formula, Lewis dot structure, an image of a ball and stick model, or an image of a space filling model. Students were asked to predict chemical properties of sulfur dioxide: relative bond length, molecular polarity, and the strongest intermolecular force with a water molecule. Using the lens of Multimedia Learning Theory on Learning with Text and Visual Representations, analyses of students' prediction of chemical properties and the features cited when making predictions was conducted. Effect sizes were used to describe variations among representations in terms of how students predicted bond length, polarity and intermolecular forces. Meaningful differences were found across representations in students' ability to correctly predict relative bond length and molecular polarity. These explorations generated the following hypotheses: (1) chemical formula leads students to depend on chemical conventions, (2) Lewis dot structure hinders predicting polarity when it shows an inaccurate shape, and (3) visual representations of ball and stick and space filling cue students to rely on visual estimations more than the other representations. Upon further testing, these hypotheses can inform instructors how to introduce representations and in the decision-making process of which representations to use to convey or assess a specific chemical property. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Royal Society of Chemistry. Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44-1223 420066; Fax: +44-1223 423623; e-mail: cerp@rsc.org; Web site: http://www.rsc.org/cerp
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01