Student Alternative Conceptions in Chemistry (Originally: Student Misconceptions and Preconceptions in Chemistry)

“Chemical equations... it took me ages to pick it up as I found it quite confusing... but having been taught by a teacher one way I tend to relate to it in the same way but in my own thinking... in an exam I would probably get it wrong. You see when we are told to swot for a test we have to go swot in our book all the stuff the teacher’s way... we go home and we try to learn that... but as soon as it hits our eyes it goes in our brain and it goes out the other way... and so when we come to write it down and we think... and we write it down all our way... because of course it still means the same thing... there is no difference... but to the teacher there is a distinct difference between our way and the teacher’s way... and the teacher’s way is the right way... that’s what I find so hard.” 15-year-old science pupil in New Zealand, in Osborne and Freyberg (1985). Learning is an active process, and what students do with facts and ideas with which they have been presented depends to a very high degree on what they already think and believe. Being able to recognize and work with these student-held ideas and conceptions is thus a key component of an effective educational strategy. Mulford and Robinson (2002) expressed th