Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Chemistry
Major Professor
Scott E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Jeffrey R. Raker, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Theresa Evans-Nguyen, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Sandra L. Schneider, Ph.D.
Keywords
anti-deficit framing, electronic and structural granularity, explicit and implicit features, structure-property relationships
Abstract
Molecular representations that show chemical bonding are ubiquitous in general and organic chemistry. These help in communicating chemistry concepts that are fundamental to understanding how and why molecules interact. The goal of this dissertation work is to offer an evidence-based report on the affordances and limitations of the variety of molecular representations by chemistry topic. The variety of representations investigated are chemical formula, Lewis dot structure, line-angle diagram, ball and stick, space filling, and electrostatic potential maps. Five studies were conducted with general and organic chemistry students and three key findings emerged. First, affordances and limitations of molecular representations are perceived by the students - they were more likely to perceive use of textual/hybrid representations in enacting chemical conventions. Second, affordances and limitations of molecular representations depend on the intent of utility - students were more likely to utilize visual representations to make visual estimates and recall electronic features. Third, the improvements to current curriculum can benefit by using an anti-deficit framing. With these findings, themes are presented to offer broader impacts. These include, use of anti-deficit framing that focuses on improving curriculum and offering feedback via assessments, learning with representations by keeping in mind the explicit and implicit features, and accounting for students’ backgrounds. A vision for how to instruct and assess with molecular representations is offered at the end.
Scholar Commons Citation
Farheen, Ayesha, "Affordances and Limitations of Molecular Representations in General and Organic Chemistry" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10036
