High school students learn the basic voltaic and electrolytic cell concepts during their last year prior to entering an undergraduate teacher-education science degree. During the 4 years of university, students complete a sequence of topics designed to build on conceptual understanding presented in previous years. At the end of their degrees,…

This paper is twofold. First, it examines the misconceptions held by students about atoms. Second, it determines the suggestions of the instructors (academics and teachers) to overcome these misconceptions. The study adopted a case study research method. A questionnaire was administered to 288 students and a semi-structured interview was conducted…

Both attitude and previous experiences play a large role in shaping a student's approach to and achievement in a given subject. Similarly, students' enjoyment of their learning experiences is an important factor in determining their retention in their course of choice. Here, we explore the attitudes toward the study of chemistry amongst a cohort…

Epistemology plays an important role in detecting learning difficulties in a given field of knowledge and in directing strategies to eliminate them. This quantitative study aimed to get to know the perceptions of 624 students, related to the nature of science and science teaching and learning. The cross-sectional survey, based on the Inventory of…

Juniorstudy is a concept of the University of Rostock, which can be used by school students before starting their time at the University. Thus, it is an instrument of supporting the choice of study direction. Moreover, we have been able to show in our last cohort, that using Juniorstudy courses also helps to significantly enhance the knowledge…

Making decisions about the production and use of chemical substances is of central importance in many fields. In this study, a research team comprising teachers and educational researchers collaborated in collecting and analyzing cognitive interviews with students from 8th grade through first-year university general chemistry in an effort to map…

Students' inaccurate ideas about what is represented by chemical equations and concepts underlying stoichiometry are well documented; however, there are few classroom-ready instructional solutions to help students build scientifically accurate ideas about these topics central to learning chemistry. An intervention (two inquiry-based activities)…

This paper discusses a K-12/university collaboration in which students participated in a four-day scenario-based summer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) camp aimed at making difficult scientific concepts salient. This scenario, Jumpstart STEM-CSI: Chocolate Science Investigation (JSCSI), used open- and guided-inquiry…

The results from a study to explore pre-service teachers' understanding of ionization energy, a topic that features in A-level (grade 11 and 12) chemistry courses. in Singapore , is described. A previous study using a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic test has shown that Singapore A-level students have considerable difficulty understanding the…

This study tested for deep understanding and critical thinking about basic quantum chemical concepts taught at 12th grade (age 17-18). Our aim was to achieve conceptual change in students. A quantitative study was conducted first (n = 125), and following this 23 selected students took part in semi-structured interviews either individually or in…

This paper investigates the views of science and scientific activity that can be found in chemistry textbooks and heard from teachers when acid-base reactions are introduced to grade 12 and university chemistry students. First, the main macroscopic and microscopic conceptual models are developed. Second, we attempt to show how the existence of…