A Qualitative Investigation of Undergraduate Chemistry Students' Macroscopic Interpretations of the Submicroscopic Structure of Molecules

摘要

Within the domain of chemistry, students are expected to be able to translate between three distinct languages: the macroscopic (white, crystalline powder), the symbolic (NaCl), and the microscopic(deg ·). Indeed, several research studies have documented the differences among these three languages of chemistry (1-5). Students appear to have less trouble grasping the macroscopic realm, that is, the realm they live in. However, the symbolic and microscopic realms tend to give chemistry students more difficulty (1,2,4,5), giving rise to reported misconceptions (6-10). While the expert chemist has no difficulty translating between these three languages, and probably does so without realizing it, previous research has found that undergraduate students-and specifically general chemistry students-have a difficult time recognizing and switching between these languages (1,4,5).