Mixed messages

By David Read2013-10-17T00:00:00

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Examining the representations of chemical bonding in textbooks

The use of models to explain concepts in chemistry is of paramount importance. The ways that models are communicated in textbooks using different types of representation can make or break a student’s (or a teacher’s) chances of coming to terms with a complex chemical idea.

Bergqvist and colleagues have analysed five widely used Swedish textbooks with a view to identifying the influence of the representations of models of chemical bonding on students’ difficulties in understanding the topic.

David Read summarises the research.

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