Comparing and Contrasting Promotes Sustainable Understanding of Chemical Bonding
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Date
2024-08
Publication Type
Other Conference Item
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yes
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Abstract
Is a salt crystal comprised of molecules? 39% of science undergraduates falsely assume so as they overgeneralize the covalent bonding type. Overgeneralization is a major challenge in science education. Typically, students neglect the differences between the three types of chemical bonding, i.e. covalent, ionic, and metallic bonding. This overgen- eralization was confirmed by assessing undergraduates’ conceptual understanding of chemical bonding before attending lectures at a Swiss university (N = 1946). This as- sessment revealed the prevalence of various misconceptions such as the overgenerali- zation of the model of covalent bonding. Thus, the question arises, how can we promote a better understanding of chemical bonding theory? Comparing and contrasting activi- ties have been proven effective for learners to keep the differences between similar con- cepts in mind (Alfieri et al.,2013). Therefore, I designed teaching materials (23 lessons) containing multiple comparing and contrasting activities, introducing the three types of chemical bonding simultaneously. The materials’ effectiveness was evaluated in a pre- and post-test classroom intervention study at Swiss Gymnasiums (N = 326, grade 10). Comparing and contrasting activities fostered students’ conceptual understanding more strongly (0.60 < d < 1.05) and were better suited to promote conceptual change than the conventional sequential introduction of the different bonding types.
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published
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Book title
Conceptual Change in the Era of Digital Transformation: 13th International Conference on Conceptual Change - Programm & Abstracts
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Volume
Pages / Article No.
73 - 73
Publisher
Technical University of Munich
Event
13th International Conference on Conceptual Change (SIG03 EARLI 2024)
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Software
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Date created
Subject
Conceptual change; science education; Misconceptions; chemical bonding; comparing and contrasting
Organisational unit
03753 - Stern, Elsbeth (ehemalig) / Stern, Elsbeth (former)
Notes
Conference lecture held on August 29, 2024.