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Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pA great deal of research has indicated that teaching is rarely a matter of introducing learners to material that simply replaces previous ignorance, but is more often a matter of presenting ideas that are somewhat at odds with existing understanding. In subjects such as chemistry, learners at school and university come to their studies already holding misconceptions or ‘alternative conceptions’ of subject matter. This has implications for subsequent learning, and so for teaching. This article reviews a number of key issues: (i), the origins of these alternative conceptions; (ii), the nature of these ideas; and, (iii), how they influence learning of the chemistry curriculum. These issues are in turn significant for guidance on (a) how curriculum should be selected and sequenced, and (b) on the pedagogy likely to be most effective in teaching chemistry. A specific concern reported in chemistry education is that one source of alternative conceptions seems to be instruction itself.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

Learning chemistry, Teaching chemistry, Conceptual understanding, Conceptual change, Constructivist pedagogy

Journal Title

Israel Journal of Chemistry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0021-2148
1869-5868

Volume Title

59

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
None.