Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry

A great deal of research has indicated that teaching is rarely a matter of introducing learners to material that simply replaces previous ignorance, but is more often a matter of presenting ideas that are somewhat at odds with existing understanding. In subjects such as chemistry, learners at school and university come to their studies already holding misconceptions or 'alternative conceptions' of subject matter. This has implications for subsequent learning, and so for teaching. This article reviews a number of key issues: (i), the origins of these alternative conceptions; (ii), the nature of these ideas; and, (iii), how they influence learning of the chemistry curriculum. These issues are in turn significant for guidance on (a) how curriculum should be selected and sequenced, and (b) on the pedagogy likely to be most effective in teaching chemistry. A specific concern reported in chemistry education is that one source of alternative conceptions seems to be instruction itself.