Students’ chemical thinking

Publications about the students' chemical thinking

The Chemical Thinking lens is a powerful way to view chemistry as a means to solve problems and answer questions in the world at large, rather than as collection of diparate tasks and topics listed in the table of contents of a textbook. The development of this framework is based upon numerous classroom studies by researchers in the Sevian group and beyond.  Relevant publications about the characterization of students' chemical thinking are below.  Please feel free to email us to request any papers that you are interested in reading if you are not able to obtain them from your library.

How middle school, high school, and first-year undergraduate students make decisions using chemical knowledge
Banks, G., Clinchot, M., Cullipher, S., Huie, R., Lambertz, J., Lewis, R., Ngai, C., Sevian, H., Szteinberg, G., Talanquer, V., & Weinrich, M. (2015). Uncovering chemical thinking in students’ decision making: A fuel-choice scenario. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(10), 1610-1618.

How undergraduate students, graduate students, and chemists make decisions using chemical knowledge
Cullipher, S., Sevian, H., & Talanquer, V. (2015). Reasoning about benefits, costs, and risks of chemical substances: Mapping different levels of sophistication. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 16, 377-392.

Synthesis of research on how students think about identifying chemical substances
Ngai, C., Sevian, H., & Talanquer, V. (2014). What is this substance? What makes it different? Mapping progression in students’ assumptions about chemical identity. International Journal of Science Education, 36(14), 2438-2461.

Development of the Chemical Substances Inventory (CSI) survey
Ngai, C., & Sevian, H. (2017). Capturing chemical identity thinking. Journal of Chemical Education, 94(2), 137-148.

Identidad química como base del concepto macroscópico de sustancia
Sevian, H., Ngai, C., Szteinberg, G., Brenes, P., & Arce, H. (2015). Concepción de la identidad química en estudiantes y profesores de química: Parte I – la identidad química como base del concepto macroscópico de sustancia. Educación Química, 26(1), 13-20.

Comparación del pensamiento químico sobre la identidad química entre participantes de dos universidades de diferentes países
Szteinberg, G., Brenes, P., Arce, H., & Sevian, H. (2015). Concepción de la identidad química en estudiantes y profesores de química: Parte II – comparación entre participantes en dos universidades de diferentes países. Educación Química, 26(2), 100-116.

Development of the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) survey
Stains, M., Escriu-Suñé, M., Molina, M., & Sevian, H. (2011). Assessing secondary and college students’ implicit assumptions about the particulate nature of matter: Development and validation of the Structure and Motion of Matter survey. Journal of Chemical Education, 45(6), 807-840.

Mental models of diffusion
Stains, M., & Sevian, H. (2015). Uncovering implicit assumptions: A large-scale study on students’ mental models of diffusion. Research in Science Education, 45(6), 807-840.

Comparison of learning about kinetic molecular theory in two different contexts in university chemistry
Sevian, H., Hugi-Cleary, D., Ngai, C., Wanjiku, F., & Baldoria, J. M. (2018). Comparison of learning in two context-based university chemistry classes. International Journal of Science Education, 40(10), 1239-1262. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2018.1470353

Epistemic games in substance characterization
Sevian, H., & Couture, S. (2018). Epistemic games in substance characterization. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 19(4), 1029-1054.

Chemical identity thinking in biochemical contexts
Ngai, C., & Sevian, H. (2018). Probing the relevance of chemical identity thinking in biochemical contexts. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 17(4), 1-12.

Teaching about energy
Aguiar, O., Sevian, H., & El-Hani, C. N. (2018). Teaching about energy: Application of the conceptual profile theory to overcome the encapsulation of school science knowledge. Science & Education, 27(9/10), 863-893.