Learners' understanding and thinking about covalent bonding

Some examples from ECLIPSE of what students have said relating to covalent bonding:

A double bond is different to a covalent bond

Covalent bonding is when atoms share electrons to combine into one whole thing

It’s covalent bonding where the electrons are shared to create a full outer shell

Sharing the same shell and electron makes them more joined together like one

The chlorine atoms share electrons to fill in their shells

Two hydrogen atoms share an electron each so they’ve got two electrons between them

Single bonds are different to covalent bonds or ionic bonds

This is just one of a wide range of science topics that learners have talked about in ECLIPSE projects.


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Exploring Conceptual Learning, Integration and Progression in Science Education

Dr Keith S Taber kst24@cam.ac.uk

University of Cambridge Faculty of Education

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© Keith S Taber, 2012