JCE 2007 (84) 880 [May] A<sub>2</sub>: Element or Compound?


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Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007 > May >

Research: Science and Education

Chemical Education Research

A₂: Element or Compound?

Marilyne Stains and Vicente Talanquer
Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

May 2007
Vol. 84 No. 5
p. 880

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Abstract

We use particulate questions to investigate the mental association between the concepts of molecule and compound in chemistry students with different levels of academic preparation. We focus our analysis on the answers that undergraduate and graduate students provided when asked to classify a substance such as A₂ (represented in particulate form) as element, compound, or mixture. Our results indicate that a significant proportion of students misclassified molecular elements as chemical compounds. Surprisingly, the mental association between the concepts of molecule and compound was stronger in students with higher levels of preparation. Advanced students seemed to differentiate between elements and compounds using an alternative classification system based on molecular structure rather than on chemical composition. Even some chemistry faculty had working definitions of element and compound that did not match the definitions conventionally included in chemistry textbooks.

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Details of the distribution of students' answers to the other questions in our study are available.


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Citation	Stains, Marilyne; Talanquer, Vicente. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 880.
Keywords	Chemical Education Research; Misconceptions / Discrepant Events
History	Created: Last Updated:	3/22/2007 4/9/2007

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