Dr. Keith S. Taber
Publication:
Taber, K. S. (2002)
Conceptualizing quanta - illuminating the ground state of student understanding
of atomic orbitals
Chemistry Education: Research and Practice in Europe, 3 (2), pp.145-158.
Abstract:
This paper presents and discusses data relating to student understanding
of the orbital concept and related ideas at college level (i.e. between secondary
and university level education). The data derives from in-depth research
into the thinking of a small sample of U.K. students. Students enter this
level of study having been explicitly taught a quantum theory of matter (i.e.
the particle model), and implicitly introduced to the quantization of charge.
The key principles of quantization of energy and angular momentum are important
at the college level when students are taught about orbitals, energy levels
and quantum numbers. Interview extracts provide insights into the students'
attempts to make sense of these unfamiliar and abstract ideas. It is suggested
that this is an area where there is a genuine pedagogic problem: capable
and motivated students struggle to learn from experienced and knowledgeable
teachers. The present paper describes how students conceptualized these key
aspects of the atomic model. A subsequent paper ("Compounding quanta: probing the frontiers
of student understanding of molecular orbitals") considers how the same
group of students applied their thinking in the more complex context of molecular
systems.
KEY WORDS: students' conceptions; quanta; orbitals; spin; atomic structure;
quanticle