ERIC Number: EJ1428888
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1450-104X
EISSN: EISSN-2077-2327
Studying Students' Representations of the "Orbital" and "Electron Cloud" Concepts
Science Education International, v35 n2 p109-118 2024
The study investigates secondary students' understanding of "orbital" and "electron cloud" concepts in different quantum contexts (for values of the ?principal quantum number n = 1 and n = 2) on the basis of their verbal and pictorial representations, evaluating also their consistency. Participants, which were 192 12th-grade students from six urban secondary schools of Northern Greece, represented these two concepts through two corresponding tasks of a paper-and-pencil assessment tool, each of which comprised two parts for verbal and pictorial representations, respectively. Results provide evidence that although students struggle to express verbally the orbital and electron cloud concepts, their competences in the corresponding pictorial representations are relatively better, exhibiting inconsistencies between verbal and pictorial representations. Inconsistencies also exist between representations of the orbital and electron cloud concepts, since students appear to have verbally a better understanding of the electron cloud than the orbital, whereas the opposite holds true for their pictorial representations. Comparing verbal and pictorial representations, the pictorial ones appear to be more consistent tools, whereas a quantum context defined by n = 2 seems to be more challenging for students compared to that of n = 1. Furthermore, an analysis of student profiles leads to their categorization in four classes, providing additional relevant information. Implications for science education are also discussed.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Scientific Concepts, Concept Formation, Grade 12, Secondary School Students, Urban Schools, Science Tests, Pictorial Stimuli, Misconceptions, Foreign Countries, Quantum Mechanics
International Council of Associations for Science Education. Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Education, Buca, Izmir 35150, Turkey. Tel: +90-532-4267927; Fax: +90-232-4204895; Web site: http://www.icaseonline.net/seiweb/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 12; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Greece
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A