Development of Understanding in Chemistry

Research in science education is concerned with studying and describing how student learning develops over time toward building understanding of core 'big ideas.' This paper offers perspectives on how the development of coherent conceptual understanding in chemistry may be approached. Following an overview of what 'learning progressions' are, the following three aspects of learning progressions research are highlighted: interpreting student reasoning in terms of cognitive constraints that influence learning, mapping student understanding in chemistry, and promoting the development of understanding through engagement in purposeful activity.