Examining student heuristic usage in a hydrogen bonding assessment.

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Chemical Education
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Hydrogen bonding is a crucial concept in molecular biology and chemistry.
• Student difficulties in understanding hydrogen bonding have been previously observed.
• Representational competence is key to understanding molecular structures and interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between representational competence and student understanding of hydrogen bonding.
• To examine cognitive processes students use when assessing hydrogen bonding in structural representations.
• To identify factors contributing to student errors in identifying hydrogen bonds.

Main Methods:

• Development and application of a coupled assessment: a multiple-select item and an open-ended item.
• Analysis of student response patterns to identify cognitive processes and heuristic usage.
• Correlation of responses between the two assessment item types.

Main Results:

• Multiple-select item responses indicated heuristic usage in incorrect answers.
• Open-ended item responses corroborated the use of heuristics.
• A link was found between poor representational competence and difficulties with hydrogen bonding.

Conclusions:

• Poor representational competence is a significant factor in student difficulties with hydrogen bonding.
• Heuristic usage contributes to errors in identifying hydrogen bonds.
• Improving representational competence may enhance student understanding of hydrogen bonding.