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Identifying and Analyzing the Misconceptions Associated with the Concept of Chemical Equation

Education research results point to frequent misconceptions of basic chemical concepts among students at all levels of education. One reason for this is the abstract nature of the subject, which requires higher cognitive abilities of students in the learning process. Considering these insights, research was conducted with the aim to identify and analyze students’ misconceptions associated with the concept of chemical equation. The results served to design and implement a quasi- experiment aiming to enhance teaching of the mentioned concept, which is presently under way. The research, conducted in December 2013, included 357 eighth grade students from several primary schools. Multiple-choice questions were used in assessing the ability of associating two different ways of presenting a chemical reaction, namely chemical equation and particulate drawing. Analysis of the collected data revealed different misconceptions associated with insufficient understanding of the concepts of atom and molecule, stoichiometric number and index, reaction system and elementary reaction, and difficulties in applying the law of conservation of mass. The research results emphasize the value of particulate drawing as a teaching tool whose application in assessing knowledge enables an analysis of the conceptual understanding of the chemical equation.

basic chemical concepts ; chemical equation ; misconception ; particulate drawing

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