Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting
Many students assume a molecular structure for all substances, even after being instructed on the topic. But why do students struggle to understand key concepts like chemical bonding? One of the reasons is students’ tendency to overgeneralize: Students wrongfully transfer characteristics from famil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Swiss Chemical Society
2023-10-01
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| Series: | CHIMIA |
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| Online Access: | https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/view/7098 |
| _version_ | 1827770202752811008 |
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| author | Adrian Zwyssig |
| author_facet | Adrian Zwyssig |
| author_sort | Adrian Zwyssig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Many students assume a molecular structure for all substances, even after being instructed on the topic. But why do students struggle to understand key concepts like chemical bonding? One of the reasons is students’ tendency to overgeneralize: Students wrongfully transfer characteristics from familiar (e.g., molecular substances) to lesser-known concepts (e.g., ionic compounds). In this article, possible reasons behind this commonly observed tendency are discussed and a possible didactical solution is proposed. Comparing and contrasting approaches increased students’ ability to distinguish between similar concepts in mathematics.[1] The method of comparing and contrasting is therefore applied by simultaneously introducing the three types of chemical bonding to effectively tackle students’ overgeneralization tendencies.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:35:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-017df7cd8dd24bffaf32e02bb8bd777e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0009-4293 2673-2424 |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:35:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Swiss Chemical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | CHIMIA |
| spelling | doaj.art-017df7cd8dd24bffaf32e02bb8bd777e2023-11-06T01:49:45ZdeuSwiss Chemical SocietyCHIMIA0009-42932673-24242023-10-01771010.2533/chimia.2023.679Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and ContrastingAdrian Zwyssig0Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction, ETH Zürich, Clausiusstrasse 59, CH-8092 Zürich Many students assume a molecular structure for all substances, even after being instructed on the topic. But why do students struggle to understand key concepts like chemical bonding? One of the reasons is students’ tendency to overgeneralize: Students wrongfully transfer characteristics from familiar (e.g., molecular substances) to lesser-known concepts (e.g., ionic compounds). In this article, possible reasons behind this commonly observed tendency are discussed and a possible didactical solution is proposed. Comparing and contrasting approaches increased students’ ability to distinguish between similar concepts in mathematics.[1] The method of comparing and contrasting is therefore applied by simultaneously introducing the three types of chemical bonding to effectively tackle students’ overgeneralization tendencies. https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/view/7098Chemical BondingChemistry educationComparing and contrastingOvergeneralization |
| spellingShingle | Adrian Zwyssig Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting CHIMIA Chemical Bonding Chemistry education Comparing and contrasting Overgeneralization |
| title | Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting |
| title_full | Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting |
| title_fullStr | Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting |
| title_full_unstemmed | Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting |
| title_short | Molecules Are Not Enough! Overcoming Students’ Overgeneralization Tendencies by Comparing and Contrasting |
| title_sort | molecules are not enough overcoming students overgeneralization tendencies by comparing and contrasting |
| topic | Chemical Bonding Chemistry education Comparing and contrasting Overgeneralization |
| url | https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/view/7098 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adrianzwyssig moleculesarenotenoughovercomingstudentsovergeneralizationtendenciesbycomparingandcontrasting |