(article written in Turkish, some English excerpts available in Nakiboglu 2003)

The research described in this paper is an investigation into the conceptions held about atomic orbitals, hybridization and related concepts by prospective chemistry teachers. The research was carried out with the participation of a total of 167 undergraduate students from two faculties of Balikesir University in Turkey. The subjects completed a diagnostic test by responding, in writing, to open-ended and multiple-choice questions about atomic orbitals and hybridization. Students' responses and explanations were analysed, and response categories were established.

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The students, largely, are not conscious of their own conceptions and consequently do not begin to question them. The preliminary results of the study indicates that students have incorporated the "new" quantum phenomena into "older" mechanistic conceptions. Further work will need to be done, but the current data implies that most students are not epistemologically aware that quantum physics constitutes a new "paradigm".

The study of chemistry includes many abstract concepts that students may find difficult to understand. A fundamental yet troublesome part of introductory chemistry courses is the topic of electron configuration and specifically quantum-mechanical orbitals. In an effort to examine the way students internalize the concept of atomic orbitals and how they attempt to communicate that understanding using models, a study was undertaken.

An understanding of the concepts of atom and molecule is fundamental to the learning of chemistry. Any misconceptions and alternative conceptions that students harbor about these concepts will impede further learning. This article identifies misconceptions related to the fundamental characteristics of atoms and molecules which Grade-12 students hold. Data were obtained by administration of semistructured interviews to a stratified, random sample of 30 students of differing abilities and backgrounds in science. Fifty-two misconceptions were observed and are reported.

Consequences for teaching physics at upper school grades were drawn. An introduction to quantum physics was designed which omits all analogies to classical physics. In the evaluation of the teaching unit, students' conceptions were recorded both at the beginning and the end of the teaching. Students in the test groups dispensed with visualized conceptions and reached an understanding which is more suitable to modern physics.

Modern physics requires an adequate use of models and a deep conceptual understanding of the underlying abstract ideas. However, there is only limited information available concerning how students have adapted their conceptual frameworks towards incorporating the highly nonclassical issues of modern physics. In the present pilot study we have investigated aspects of this conceptual knowledge and ways of changing the students' views of the strange reality described by Quantum physics. The study was part of a quantum physics seminar.

This research is a follow-up to our earlier study in which we assessed the knowledge and conceptions of fundamental notions on chemistry of first year undergraduate students at the time of entry into university. It examines to what extent, after one year of study at university level, the conceptions of the students have evolved and how their knowledge of scientific theory has progressed.

(No abstract - this is the first paragraphs of the article.)
The fragmentary system of the Italian secondary school system means that pupils may receive their first chemistry course anytime between the ages of 14-17 years(1). These courses may be of quite different length, but a common feature is the introduction of the orbital concept of atomic and molecular structure. While such an approach makes it possible to deduce and rationalize a large amount of chemical knowledge, there is a groing realization that this is possibly not the best way to introcue pupils to chemistry.