A Review of Research on the Teaching and Learning of Chemical Bonding

Abstract

We review the literature, from 2006 to 2020, focused on the teaching and learning of chemical bonding. The studies included in our review (48 studies set in 19 different countries overall) involved secondary and postsecondary students as well as K-12 teachers and university faculty. We synthesize these studies’ findings to provide implications for future research and instruction. To this end, our analysis summarizes the range of methodological choices employed and reports on students’ understanding of chemical bonding. On the basis of our analysis, we find that studies tended to overemphasize the cataloging of alternative conceptions in the context of first-year general chemistry, which suggests the need for more work that emphasizes students’ reasoning regarding advanced models of bonding in higher levels of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum.