Determination of Prospective Chemistry Teachers’ Cognitive Structures and Misconceptions About Stereochemistry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive structures of chemistry teacher candidates about “stereochemistry”. A case study research method, one of the qualitative research patterns, was used in the study and the sample of study involved 28 prospective chemistry teachers who had taken Organic Chemistry I and II courses at Education Faculty of a middle Anatolian university. For the data collection, stereochemistry concept inventory comprising of 20 questions was used. In the analysis of data, students’ responses in SCI were categorized. The detailed analysis of the results indicated that chemistry teacher candidates had some misconceptions concerning stereochemistry parallel to the literature. Based on these observations, some suggestions were presented for improving students’ foundational understanding about stereochemistry.