Investigating First-Year Undergraduate Chemistry Students' Reasoning with Reaction Coordinate Diagrams When Choosing among Particulate-Level Reaction Mechanisms

Autor/inn/en	Atkinson, Molly B.; Croisant, Michael; Bretz, Stacey Lowery
Titel	Investigating First-Year Undergraduate Chemistry Students' Reasoning with Reaction Coordinate Diagrams When Choosing among Particulate-Level Reaction Mechanisms
Quelle	In: Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 22 (2021) 1, S.199-213 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Atkinson, Molly B.) ORCID (Bretz, Stacey Lowery)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1756-1108
DOI	10.1039/d0rp00193g
Schlagwörter	College Freshmen; Thinking Skills; Visual Aids; Chemistry; Science Instruction; Scientific Concepts; Science Achievement + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Studienanfänger; Denkfähigkeit; Anschauungsmaterial; Chemie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht
Abstract	Reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) are an important tool used to visualize the energetics of a chemical reaction. RCDs provide information about the kinetics of the reaction, the mechanism by which the reaction occurs, and the relative thermodynamic stability of the molecules in a reaction. Previous research studies have characterized student thinking about chemical kinetics, including their confusion in distinguishing between kinetics and thermodynamics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 44 students enrolled in a second-semester, first-year undergraduate chemistry course to elicit students' ideas about surface features of RCDs and to examine how students connect those surface features to features of particulate-level reaction mechanisms. Students were provided both a gas-phase reaction and its accompanying RCD, and then they were asked to choose the particulate-level reaction mechanism that best corresponded to both the reaction and the RCD from among several possible particulate-level reaction mechanisms. Students were asked to explain their reasoning throughout the interview. Findings include students who chose the correct mechanism with appropriate reasoning, as well as students who chose the correct mechanism yet still expressed inaccurate ideas related to the surface features of RCDs and the concepts encoded within them. Students struggled to explain and reason with surface features such as peaks, valleys, and peak height. Moreover, students frequently found it difficult to identify meaningful connections between these surface features, the stoichiometry of the reaction, and the steps in a reaction mechanism. In addition, many students failed to mention important features of RCDs when describing their reasoning about the connections between particulate-level reaction mechanisms and RCDs. The implications for incorporating these research findings into teaching practices in first-year undergraduate chemistry contexts are discussed. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Royal Society of Chemistry. Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44-1223 420066; Fax: +44-1223 423623; e-mail: cerp@rsc.org; Web site: http://www.rsc.org/cerp
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01