ERIC Number: EJ1166542
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jan
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1756-1108
EISSN: N/A
Using a Multi-Tier Diagnostic Test to Explore the Nature of Students' Alternative Conceptions on Reaction Kinetics
Chemistry Education Research and Practice, v19 n1 p213-226 Jan 2018
This study focused on grade 12 students' understanding of reaction kinetics. A 4-tier diagnostic instrument was developed for this purpose and administered to 137 students in the main study. Findings showed that reaction kinetics is a difficult topic for these students, with a total of 25 alternative conceptions (ACs) being uncovered. Except for one AC, the other ACs uncovered have not been reported before in the literature. An interesting point emerging from this study is that nearly 70% of the ACs were obtained from questions that featured graphs. Overall, the 4-tier format for the diagnostic instrument demonstrates good utility for probing students' understanding of reaction kinetics as well as uncovering their ACs. The confidence-related measures, which are more commonly used in the educational psychology literature, have also permitted further insights to be gained into how the students performed in the test as well as the classification of the ACs.
Descriptors: Diagnostic Tests, Kinetics, Grade 12, Chemistry, Misconceptions, Foreign Countries, High School Students, Test Format, Graphs, Confidence Testing
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
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 12
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Singapore
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A