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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > May  >
Research: Science and Education
Chemical Education Research
What Are Students Thinking When They Pick Their Answer?
A Content Analysis of Students' Explanations of Gas Properties
Michael J. Sanger and Amy J. Phelps
Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Cover
May 2007
Vol. 84 No. 5
p. 870
Abstract
A sample of 330 students was asked to answer a multiple-choice question concerning gas properties at the microscopic level and explain the reasoning they used to make their choice. These comments were analyzed, paying particular attention to students' beliefs about particle velocity, particle distribution (gas volume), the number of particle collisions (gas pressure), and the state of matter of the sample. The results showed that 33% of the students chose the correct answer for the multiple-choice question. Of the students who picked the correct answer, 80% provided explanations that were consistent with the scientifically accepted answer, while 90% of the students who picked an incorrect choice provided explanations with at least one misconception. Although these results support the validity of the multiple-choice question, we identified three threats to the validity of this question: The static question does not depict the critical attribute of change (particle motion); Students do not see a distinction between two of the distractors in the question; Students may be choosing an incorrect option based on an incorrect guess of the melting or boiling point of the gas and not based on a misconception.
More Information
*
Citation
Sanger, Michael J.; Phelps, Amy J. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 870.
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Keywords
Chemical Education Research; Communication / Writing; First-Year Undergraduate / General; Gases; High School / Introductory Chemistry; Kinetic-Molecular Theory; Misconceptions / Discrepant Events; Phases / Phase Transitions / Diagrams; Qualitative Analysis
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
3/22/2007
4/9/2007
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