Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

Title

Development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory as a Measure of Students’ Understandings of Particulate and Symbolic Representations of Electron Structure

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-28-2019

Publication Title

Journal of Chemical Education

Keywords

High School, Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate, General Upper-Division, Undergraduate Chemical Education, Research Physical Chemistry Misconceptions, Discrepant Events Testing, Assessment Atomic Properties, Structure Quantum Chemistry

ISSN

0021-9584

Volume

96

Issue/No.

8

First Page

1558

Last Page

1570

Abstract

This article describes the development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory (QuPRI) as a measure of student understanding of the electron structure of the atom. The QuPRI was created using a mixed-method sequential design such that the items and distractors were generated on the basis of the analysis of semi-structured interviews in which students were asked to interpret multiple representations of the electron structure of hydrogen, helium, and carbon atoms. The QuPRI was administered to first-semester general chemistry students (N = 655) and physical chemistry/biophysical chemistry students (N = 38). Descriptive statistics and item function are presented for each sample, including evidence for the reliability and validity of the data generated by the QuPRI. Students’ confidence in their responses and reasoning about the electron structure of atoms is discussed.

Comments

Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2971-4878

DOI

10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00098

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