Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
University Chemistry Education, cilt.6, sa.2, ss.73-83, 2002 (Hakemli Dergi)
This study is aimed at identifying and classifying Turkish chemistry undergraduates misunderstandings of
Gibbs free energy. In order to fulfill this aim, open-ended diagnostic questions and semi-structured interviews
were used, conducted both before and after the topic was taught. Diagnostic questions were answered as pretests
and post-tests by about forty-five students who took physical chemistry courses from two different
chemistry education departments in two different universities in Turkey. Twenty-two pre-interviews and five
post-interviews were carried out just after the administration of the tests. Seven different misunderstandings
were identified. Although some of the findings of this study confirm the previous research findings, it goes
beyond them by identifying new misunderstandings and suggests places where these misunderstandings may
originate. The results have implications for tertiary level teaching, suggesting that a substantial review of
teaching strategies is needed.