How to Assess Students’ Structure–Property Reasoning?

Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 99, pp. 3396–3405

Abstract

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide This paper describes the design of an instrument to assess secondary school students’ proficiency in structure–property reasoning (SPR). Design criteria for the instrument required that it should be based on a comprehensive model for structure–property reasoning, assess both reproductive and productive use of structure–property reasoning, be cost-effective, and be easy for teachers to adapt to their situation. An unframed and framed sorting task and an unframed and framed mapping task were included in the instrument. It was used to determine the proficiency in structure–property reasoning of two populations: 60 Dutch secondary school students on the preuniversity track and 108 Dutch first-year university chemistry students. Results were analyzed using established statistical techniques, and they confirmed that the SPR-instrument clearly discriminates between preuniversity and first-year chemistry students. The paper concludes by outlining the possibilities offered by the instrument and suggestions for further research.

Authors 3

1. Marie-Jetta den Otter corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching (ICLON), Leiden University, P.O. Box 905, 2300 AX Leiden, The Netherlands

2. Ludo B. F. Juurlink Aachen Leiden Institute of Chemistry

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

3. Fred J. J. M. Janssen Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching (ICLON), Leiden University, P.O. Box 905, 2300 AX Leiden, The Netherlands