Fourteen-year-old students’ misconceptions regarding the sub-micro and symbolic levels of specific chemical concepts

Abstract

Learning and presenting chemical concepts at the triple level of chemical concepts provides opportunities for the development of misconceptions. The research aimed to identify potential misconceptions of chemical concepts: the states of matter, a pure substance, a mixture, an element, a compound, a physical change, and a chemical reaction at the sub-micro level when solving problems incorporating sub-microrepresentations. A total of 188 14-year old students, attending six different primary schools, participated in the research. A chemistry achievement test comprising five problems at the macroscopic, sub-micro, and symbolic levels was used to obtain data about students’ misconceptions of selected concepts. The results showed that the majority of students had formed inadequate mental models (misconceptions) for the chemical concept of the liquid state of water (66.5%). The lowest level of misconceptions is related with the gaseous state of matter, because almost all students (98.5%) solved the problem correctly. It can be concluded that the results of the research are significant for chemistry teachers because they can: select and apply adequate educational strategies to avoid the deepening or development of misconceptions and make the courses practically oriented by analysing students’ misconceptions and develop teaching strategies to minimise these problems in the chemistry classroom.