Title

Scott Lewis

University of South Florida

Differentiating ionic and covalent compounds is an important and necessary first step in determining chemical bonding, chemical structure, and physical properties of compounds. This study sought to explore how students who completed general chemistry describe ionic compounds over time, with their responses contextualized by how they describe covalent compounds. Student concepts were collected via Creative Exercises, an open-ended assessment tasking students to list as many relevant facts as they can about a compound. These assessments were repeated six and twelve months later with the same cohort. Student responses were inductively coded for patterns in data and then deductively coded for conceptions related to chemical bonding. Emergent patterns in the data offer instructional insight into how ionic compounds are discussed and assessed in introductory chemistry courses.