Assessing the potential of worksheets as a tool for unearthing teacher trainees' conceptions about chemical bonds

The conceptions held by undergraduate teacher trainees about basic types of chemical bonds are investigated in this paper. The research was carried out with 95 first year Chemistry education teacher trainees purposely chosen from two teacher training institutions. Participants worked on worksheets which showed figures of compounds with different kinds of chemical bonds after which their answers were scored and interpreted in order to understand the possible reasons behind their choices. Results from the activity indicated that more than 80% of the chemistry education trainees had vernacular and conceptual misconceptions about basic chemical bonding, which stemmed from their environment, text books and teachers. Some suggestions were made for more effective teaching approaches to enhance teacher trainees’ conceptual understanding of chemical bonds.