Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams
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Miami University / OhioLINK
2018
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1524067397936897 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-miami15240673979368972021-08-03T07:06:16Z Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams Popova, Maia Education Chemistry This study was designed to explore students’ ideas about stability and reactivity and how, if at all, students considered these concepts to be related to each other. A major emphasis in the investigation was placed on how students decode information about stability and reactivity from different representations which are commonly used in the organic chemistry curriculum, including structural formulas, reactions, and reaction coordinate diagrams. Thirty-six students enrolled in organic chemistry II participated in a qualitative study which used semi-structured interviews. Multiple analyses which examined students’ utterances and annotations of the representations were conducted to elucidate and describe what relationships students perceive between the aforementioned domain-specific concepts, how they interpret the surface features of reaction coordinate diagrams, as well as how they make connections between reactions and their corresponding reaction coordinate diagrams. Students’ reasonings were examined through multiple theoretical lenses, including Ausubel and Novak’s theory of meaningful learning, Perry’s scheme of intellectual development, Johnstone’s triangle, Johnstone’s information processing model, and Kozma and Russell’s representational competence. Findings include the characterization of a logically consistent, but inaccurate, knowledge framework which students use to draw inferences about the interconnectedness of bonding, stability, and reactivity. Additionally, analyses of students’ explanations resulted in the identification of four themes that describe their challenges with correctly interpreting surface features of reaction coordinate diagrams. Three major themes were also identified which characterize students’ difficulties with integrating information from reactions and reaction coordinate diagrams. Analyses of students’ annotations of representations evidenced limited understanding of the role of particle collisions when considering the energetic changes that occur during a reaction, as represented by reaction equations and reaction coordinate diagrams. These findings suggest that the development of effective instructional strategies that foster meaningful connections between the concepts of stability and reactivity is warranted. Such instructional strategies should include interventions which support coherence formation between multiple representations by emphasizing the explanatory power of the particulate nature of matter. 2018-04-19 English text Miami University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1524067397936897 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1524067397936897 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Education Chemistry |
| spellingShingle |
Education Chemistry Popova, Maia Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams |
| author |
Popova, Maia |
| author_facet |
Popova, Maia |
| author_sort |
Popova, Maia |
| title |
Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams |
| title_short |
Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams |
| title_full |
Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams |
| title_fullStr |
Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Organic Chemistry Students' Understandings of Stability and Reactivity: Challenges with Interpreting Concepts Encoded in Structural Formulas, Reactions, and Reaction Coordinate Diagrams |
| title_sort |
organic chemistry students' understandings of stability and reactivity: challenges with interpreting concepts encoded in structural formulas, reactions, and reaction coordinate diagrams |
| publisher |
Miami University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2018 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1524067397936897 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT popovamaia organicchemistrystudentsunderstandingsofstabilityandreactivitychallengeswithinterpretingconceptsencodedinstructuralformulasreactionsandreactioncoordinatediagrams |
| _version_ |
1719453597733748736 |