Use of Spectroscopic Representations in Student‐Generated Atomic Models

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to illustrate college students' levels of sophistication of their spectroscopic representations (SRs). For example, a photon is drawn as a wavy line, which might be used to enhance their atomic models (AMs). Study 1 was a quantitative study in which 70 students, enrolled in first semester general chemistry, drew or described their own model of the atom. Despite the fact that they had just completed a unit on atomic structure, only 30.6% of these students were classified as having a good understanding of the Bohr AM. Most of these students, 93.8%, incorporated SRs into their models. Conversely, only 41.2% of those who had a moderate AM understanding and only 5% of those with a poor AM understanding used SR in their AMs. Study 2 was a qualitative study in which 10 volunteers, enrolled in the same course but during a different semester, interacted with a multimedia instructional package and with a tutor. Interviews with two students were selected for in‐depth analyses. Each one enhanced their own AM by adding dynamic SR to their original AMs.

Keywords:

• Student learning
• Multimedia instruction
• Atomic models
• Spectroscopic representations

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Sister Nicole Kunze and Sari Suits in conducting these research studies. Also, the constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers enhanced the quality of the paper. We appreciate Ron Darbeau's ideas and support. Grant support was provided by an NSF‐funded Center for Innovative Learning Technology subcontracted grant (J. P. Suits, P. I., Visualization and Assessment Seed Grant, 2002–2003).