Students lack a firm understanding of a topic usually taught during the first semester of general chemistry: oxidation-reduction reactions (redox). Although students construct knowledge from the data obtained by their senses, many textbooks and teachers focus heavily on symbolic equations and rules for determining oxidation numbers as the tools for learning redox concepts. Students can be left with memorized definitions, a superficial understanding, and misconceptions about a complex topic that has a strong particulate foundation. In order to elicit student ideas about oxidation-reduction on a large scale, the Redox Concept Inventory (ROXCI) was created based on 39 semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students. Preliminary data will be collected from general chemistry and organic chemistry students in fall 2013. Findings from the pilot implementation of the inventory will be discussed.

Using the Redox Concept Inventory (ROXCI) to assess student misconceptions across the particulate and symbolic domains

245th National Meeting (2013)

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