Psychology
Learning and teaching about matter in the middle-school years: How can the atomic-molecular theory be meaningfully introduced?
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
The atomic–molecular theory is one of the most important contemporary scientific theories. Its basic tenets are few and simple, offering parsimonious and elegant explanations of why and how materials differ and change phase, and enter into chemical reactions. Yet most high-schoolers display major misconceptions about the nature, behavior, and structural arrangements of atoms, and about atomic–molecular accounts of macroscopic properties and phenomena. We argue that this is not inevitable and is no reason to delay teaching the atomic–molecular theory (AMT) until high school.
Publication Title
International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change
Publication Date
2013
First Page
177
Last Page
194
ISBN
9781136578212,9780203154472
DOI
10.4324/9780203154472
Repository Citation
Wiser, Marianne and Smith, Carol L., "Learning and teaching about matter in the middle-school years: How can the atomic-molecular theory be meaningfully introduced?" (2013). Psychology. 863.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/863