The purpose of this study is to identify misconceptions that students have about acid-base reactions. Our research questions include: (1) How do students identify acid-base reactions? (2) What features stand out to students as essential in acid-base reactions? Thirty-four students were interviewed from high school, general chemistry 1 & II, organic chemistry I & II, and a graduate level organic chemistry seminar regarding their classification schemes for 13 reactions.  A 28-item Acid-Base Concept Inventory (ABCI) was developed using student interviews.  The distracters within the inventory come directly from student explanations of how particles interact in reactions. The ABC Inventory was pilot tested with 1,199 students in high school, general chemistry, and organic chemistry courses.  Results from a final study with a national sample of general chemistry students will be presented.

Measuring student understanding of acid-base reactions using the Acid-Base Concept Inventory (ABCI)

245th National Meeting (2013)

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