Understanding the particulate nature of matter is important to understanding many aspects of general chemistry and for future success in chemistry. Students evaluated in this study were not only exposed to static drawings in lecture regarding the particulate nature of matter, but in addition used various online e-homework systems (e.g., SmartWork, ALEKS, Sapling, and OWL) that at times presented animations reflecting how we perceive actions of atoms and molecules. The purpose of this study was to investigate how male and female groups of students interpret summative assessment questions designed to elicit their understanding of the particulate the nature of matter. The eight concepts assessed were gathered from students' responses from over 9,000 first-semester general chemistry final exam questions on density, isotopic nuclear symbols, chemical reactions, Lewis structures, formal charges, gas laws, states of matter, and acid/base concepts. In the majority of the cases evaluated on the average males outperformed females. One of the major stumbling blocks to successful performance (scores of greater than 70 percent) is the understanding of basic vocabulary reflective of accepted particulate terminology. As expected, overall successful students exhibited fewer misconceptions than unsuccessful students, but common "distractors" still hold appeal as possible answers. Also, discussed will be student performance under each of the various e-homework systems used.

Effects of e-homework systems on male and female students' understanding of the particulate nature of matter

249th National Meeting (2015)

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