This study aims to identify students' misconceptions regarding covalent bonds. Seventy-seven graduate students in the middle of Indonesia participated in the study. Data were collected in three stages. First, misconceptions were identified by using the Semi Open Diagnostic Test. Ten students who experienced the worst misconceptions were…

Understanding the energy changes that occur as atoms and molecules interact forms the foundation for understanding the macroscopic energy changes that accompany chemical processes. In order to identify ways to scaffold students' understanding of the connections between atomic-molecular and macroscopic energy perspectives, we conducted a…

The connection between the molecular-level structure of a substance and its macroscopic properties is a fundamental concept in chemistry. Students in college-level general and organic chemistry courses were interviewed to investigate how they used structure-property relationships to predict properties such as melting and boiling points. Although…

Differences in problem-solving ability among organic chemistry graduate students and faculty were studied within the domain of problems that involved the determination of the structure of a molecule from the molecular formula of the compound and a combination of IR and [to the first power]H NMR spectra. The participants' performance on these tasks…

This study exemplifies how faculty members can develop instruments to assess affective responses of students to the specific features of the courses they teach. Means for assessing three types of affective responses are demonstrated: (a) student attitudes towards courses with differing instructional objectives and methodologies, (b) student…

Reports on a study which examined the relationship between spatial ability and performance in organic chemistry. Results indicated that students with high spatial scores did significantly better on questions requiring problem solving skills, as well as on those requiring the mental manipulation of two-dimensional representations of a molecule. (TW)