Chemistry is the learning of abstract concepts and thus chemists developed representations that depict these concepts. Instructors choosing which representations to use to explain an underlying abstract concept is not a trivial decision, and they should not assume students know how to use those representations as intended. Researchers of this study explored what features of a representation are cued to students. The theory of visual understanding offers an explanation that when students view a representation they are cued to particular features from that representation, thus it is expected that the selection of a representation can influence how students describe and explain relevant chemistry concepts. 1,086 students in second-semester general chemistry course were assigned to one of the following representations of sulfur dioxide: chemical formula, Lewis dot structure, ball and stick model, and space filling model. It was hypothesized that if the feature is depicted by a visual marker explicitly in the representation, then students are cued to this feature, and will likely use the representation as intended. To test this hypothesis, students were surveyed containing multiple-choice and open-ended prompts about relative bond length and polarity of sulfur dioxide, and the intermolecular forces present between sulfur dioxide and water. Analyses of the answer choices comparing the four representations show an impact of representation choice on students’ evaluation of bond length and polarity and showed patterns in how each representation cued students to particular features. Results of this study have the potential to inform further research into exploring the limitations of each representation by cataloging features that were cued to students; thereby helping instructors make decisions on the use of these representations for teaching purposes.

Understanding the impact of representations of a molecule on students’ explanation of chemistry concepts

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.