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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1999  > March  >
Chemical Education Today
Reports from Other Journals: Research Advances
A View of the Science Education Research Literature: Student Understanding of Chemical Change
William R. Robinson
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Cover
March 1999
Vol. 76 No. 3
p. 297
Abstract
In their paper, "Students' understanding of chemical reactions" which appeared in the International Journal of Science Education (1998, 20, 303-316), Maija Ahtee and Irma Varjola cite studies indicating that many students of a variety of ages and nationalities are unable to distinguish between physical change and chemical change. Students often explain phenomena based on intuitions rather than on science concepts learned in school; they do not use atoms and molecules in explanations unless prompted; they are unable to differentiate among concepts such as compound, mixture, solution, and atom; they do not identify formation of a new substance as a characteristic of a chemical reaction; and they prefer to use concrete attributes rather than attributes with an atomic or molecular basis when discussing change or reactions. Ahtee and Varjola then report their study of Finnish students with results that fit the same pattern.
More Information
*  Citation
 Robinson, William R. J. Chem. Educ. 1999 76 297.
*  Keywords
 Chemical Education Research; CER Misconceptions; Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 15, 1999
June 22, 2005
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