Cognitive Structures and Misconceptions with a Thematic Framework: The Case of Chemical Bonding

This study aims to investigate undergraduate students’ cognitive structures and determinate misconceptions about chemical bonding phenomena. On the other hand, the study achieves to recommend an alternative technique for the evaluation of Word Associations Tests (WAT). The study was carried out with the participation of first year studens; 141 from engineering faculty and 73 from medical sciences faculty of a foundation university in the spring semester of 2017-2018 academic year. WAT about chemical bonds prepared by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. Content analysis were used to analyze the data. The students’ responds to the key words given to them were divided into themes and cut-off technique was used according to the themes distinguished. In this context, students' cognitive structures related to chemical bonds were determined within the framework of themes. It has been determined that the students’ WAT results regarding to chemical bonding, which supported with concept maps within the framework of the themes, provides convenience in determining the misconceptions because of reflects the concepts and the relationships between the concepts more clearly. In consequence, it is suggested that the new technique of evaluation recommended could be used in prospective studies.