Dr. Stowe explains the benefit and process of shifting our teaching practices away from considering “incorrect” student answers as indicators of define-able “misconceptions.” If we, instead, assume a “wrong answer” represents a momentary coalescence of small bits of knowledge, we can identify these “bits” and focus instruction on supporting useful “bit” activation across contexts. Dr. Stowe translates evidence and research into productive takeaways for teachers of first and second-year chemistry courses.

Sometimes the teaching methods we use to simplify complex chemistry concepts have the unintended consequence of causing confusion in students that only surfaces later on. Dr. Barke’s research has uncovered the most common of these ‘school-based misconceptions’ and he will share adjustments that instructors can make to prevent these issues as well as ways to identify and fix these misconceptions that may be lurking beneath the surface.

Many students’ conceptual difficulties in chemistry result from assumptions they hold about the natural world and mental shortcuts they take in their reasoning. Dr. Vicente Talanquer will share an explanatory framework that helps instructors understand and even predict these underlying misconceptions and also address them so students can build a firmer foundation in chemistry.