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Addressing student
misconceptions concerning
electron flow in aqueous
solutions with instruction
including computer
animations and conceptual
change strategies
Michael J. Sanger & Thomas J. Greenbowe
Published online: 20 Jul 2010.

To cite this article: Michael J. Sanger & Thomas J. Greenbowe (2000)

Addressing student misconceptions concerning electron flow in aqueous
solutions with instruction including computer animations and conceptual change
strategies, International Journal of Science Education, 22:5, 521-537, DOI:
10.1080/095006900289769

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/095006900289769

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 INT. J. SCI. EDUC., 2000, VOL. 22, NO. 5, 521- 537

RESEARCH REPORT

Addressing student misconceptions concerning

electron flow in aqueous solutions with instruction
including computer animations and conceptual
change strategies
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Michael J. Sanger, Department of Chemistry, University of Northern Iowa,

Cedar Falls, USA, and Thomas J. Greenbowe, Department of Chemistry,
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, USA; e-mail:
sanger@acad.uni.edu

The effects of both computer animations of microscopic chemical processes occurring in a galvanic cell
and conceptual change instruction based on chemical demonstrations on students’ conceptions of cur-
rent flow in electrolyte solutions were investigated. Preliminary results for verbal conceptual questions
suggest that conceptual change instruction was effective at dispelling student misconceptions that
electrons flow in aqueous solutions of electrochemical cells. Computer animations did not appear to
have an effect on students’ responses to visual or verbal conceptual questions. An animation/conceptual
change interaction for verbal conceptual questions suggests that animations may prove distacting when
the questions do not require students to visualize. Data from this study also suggests that lecture
attendance and recitation participations helped students answer visual questions.

Introduction
We investigated the use of computer animations and instruction based on concep-
tual change theory (Posner et al. 1982) to counter student misconceptions in elec-
trochemistry. This research was prompted by a previous study (Sanger and
Greenbowe 1997a) in which students received instruction that emphasized that
electrons do not flow in aqueous solutions and showed computer animations
depicting the correct flow of current in electrochemical cells on the molecular
level (electrons flowing in the wires and ions flowing in solution). Students in
that study answered three verbal conceptual questions concerning the flow of
electrons in aqueous solutions and were subsequently classified into three groups:
students who consistently demonstrated the misconception that electrons can
flow in electrolyte solutions; students who consistently did not demonstrate this
misconception; and students who were inconsistent in their responses.
Those students’ responses were compared to the responses of introductory
college chemistry students in South Africa who answered five similar questions
(Ogude and Bradley 1994). The American students were significantly less likely
than the South African students - who, it was assumed, did not view computer
animations or a confrontational teaching method - to demonstrate the misconcep-

International Journal of Science Education ISSN 0950- 0693 print/ISSN 1464-5289 online # 2000 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
 522 M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE

tion consistently. However, the authors were unable to determine which factor led
to the change in those students’ conceptions. This study was designed to determine
whether the use of computer animations or conceptual change instruction will
decrease the number of student misconceptions.
The instructional effectiveness of computer animations may be explained
using Paivio’s (1991) dual-coding theory, which assumes that learners store infor-
mation received in working memory as either verbal or visual (pictorial) mental
representations. The instructional superiority of pictures over words lies in the
assumption that while words are coded verbally, pictures are more likely to be
coded visually and verbally. As a result, better recall of pictures can be expected
because they are dually coded and if one mental representation is lost, the other is
still available. Although the dual-coding theory was proposed based on research
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using static visuals, it has been applied and adapted to explain the effectiveness of
instruction using computer animations (Mayer and Gallini 1990, Mayer and
Anderson 1991, 1992). Several chemical education researchers have also demon-
strated that computer animations can help students think about chemical processes
on the molecular level (Zeidler and McIntosh 1989, Griffiths and Preston 1992,
Hakerem et al. 1993, Greenbowe et al. 1995, Williamson and Abraham 1995).
However, from his review of computer-based instruction using animations,
Rieber (1989) concluded that the use of computer animations has not been proven
to be an effective presentation strategy when studied in controlled experiments
and that any effects attributed to animations may be dependent on other lesson
components (lesson organization, practice, etc.). He also concluded that incorpor-
ating animations in instruction is supported only if the demands of learning
involve the attributes of visualization, motion, or trajectory. Empirical evidence
suggests that novice learners may not know how to attend to relevant cues pro-
vided by animations and should be prompted to watch for relevant details.
Conceptual change has been described as a process of learning science in a
meaningful way that requires the learner to realign, reorganize, or replace existing
misconceptions in order to accommodate new ideas (Smith et al. 1993). Cho et al.
(1985) defined the term misconception as student conceptual and propositional
knowledge that is inconsistent with or different from the commonly-accepted
scientific consensus. The model of conceptual change developed by Posner et al.
(1982) proposed that four conditions must occur before students can replace an
existing misconception: students must experience dissatisfaction with their exist-
ing conception; they must be able to understand the new conception; the new
conception must seem plausible to them; and the new conception must appear
to be better at explaining their experiences and observations than their previous
conception. Only after these conditions have been met are students more likely to
experience conceptual change, discarding their naive conception for a scientifi-
cally-accepted one.
Several chemical education researchers (Rogan 1988, Basili and Sanford 1991,
Hameed et al. 1993, Ebenezer and Gaskell 1995) have demonstrated that concep-
tual change instruction can be effective at changing students’ conceptions of
chemical processes. However, problems concerning the effectiveness of conceptual
change instruction have been reported, including the fact that a high proportion of
students retain their misconceptions (Basili and Sanford 1991), students may
revert to previous misconceptions over time (Happs 1985), misconceptions not
specifically addressed may not be affected by the instruction (Hameed et al.
 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 523

1993) and teachers may have difficulty teaching for conceptual change (Basili and
Sanford 1991).
Teaching for conceptual change also requires instructors to be familiar with
the misconceptions that students are likely to hold. Several researchers have
reported student misconceptions in electrochemistry that were derived from
student responses to conceptual multiple-choice questions (Allsop and George
1982, Ogude and Bradley 1994) or student interviews (Garnett and Treagust
1992a, 1992b, Sanger and Greenbowe 1997a). The misconception that electrons
flow in electrolyte solutions is pervasive in electrochemistry and, in fact, was the
only misconception reported by each of these researchers.
This article explores the effects of viewing computer animations and receiving
conceptual change instruction on students’ conceptions of current flow in aqueous
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solutions. Student performance on an algorithmic question and several verbal and

visual conceptual multiple-choice questions were compared, and the following
hypotheses were proposed:
(1) For the algorithmic question, there will be no main effect or interaction
of student performance due to the use of animations or conceptual
change strategies.
(2) For the visual conceptual questions, there will be an increase in the
proportion of responses consistent with the scientifically-accepted
conception after receiving instruction using animations or conceptual
change strategies. There will be no interaction effect.
(3) For the verbal conceptual questions, there will be an increase in the
proportion of responses consistent with the scientifically-accepted con-
ception after receiving instruction using conceptual change strategies.
The use of animations will not affect the responses to the verbal con-
ceptual questions. There will be no interaction effect.

Method

Subjects
This study included students enrolled in a single section of an introductory college
chemistry course intended for engineering majors at an American midwestern
university; 135 of the 190 students enrolled in this course participated in the study.

Design
This study utilized a two-factor …2 £ 2† nonequivalent control-group design (Borg
and Gall 1989). Because the students were randomly assigned by recitation section
to the treatment groups and each treatment was administered during a single 50-
minute recitation period, this study is quasi-experimental in nature (Borg and Gall
1989). Each treatment group received equivalent instruction on calculating cell
potentials using the potential difference method (Runo and Peters 1993, Sanger
and Greenbowe 1999) and on current flow in the wires of a galvanic cell. The two
independent variables investigated in this study were the use of computer anima-
tions and conceptual change instruction.
 524 M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE

The computer animations used in this study depict the electrochemical pro-
cesses occurring in a copper-zinc galvanic cell at the microscopic level and focus on
the chemical half-reactions occurring at each metal electrode and the transfer of
ions from the salt bridge to the two half-cell compartments (Greenbowe 1994,
Sanger and Greenbowe 1997b). Each animation was repeated three times and
was narrated by the first author who pointed out the relevant processes depicted
in the animation. Students who did not view the computer animations received
similar instruction using static chalkboard drawings.
This experiment used conceptual change instruction based on chemical
demonstrations to confront the misconception that electrons can flow in aqueous
solutions. The students were told in recitation that there are three ‘theories’
commonly proposed to explain current flow in electrolyte solutions. Two of
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these theories correspond to the common misconceptions that were reported in

the literature as a result of student interviews (Garnett and Treagust 1992a, 1992b,
Sanger and Greenbowe 1997a). Theory 1 assumes that free electrons, e¡ …aq†,
flowing through the electrolyte solutions from the cathode to the anode constitute
the electrical current in solution. Theory 2 asserts that electrons flowing through
the solution from the cathode to the anode constitute the electrical current in
solution, but that the electrons hop onto a cation or anion at the cathode and
jump off at the anode (the ‘piggyback’ method). Theory 3 represents the
scientifically-accepted view that because electrons are not stable in solution, the
flow of other positively- or negatively-charged species (cations and anions) must
constitute the electrical current in solution.
The conceptual change instruction consisted of three chemical demonstrations
that were performed and whose implications were discussed with the students. In
the first demonstration, the electrical conductivity of pure water was tested before
and after sodium chloride was dissolved in it. The fact that pure water is a poor
electrical conductor contradicts theory 1 - if electrons need no ion assistance, why
doesn’t pure water conduct electricity? Theories 2 and 3 are consistent with the
observation that water does not conduct electricity until salt is added. The second
demonstration was the reaction of potassium metal with water (and a small amount
of phenolphthalein), according to the following reaction:

2K…s† ¡! 2K‡ …aq† ‡ 2e¡

2H2 O…l† ‡ 2e¡ ¡! H2 …g† ‡ 2OH¡ …aq†
2K…s† ‡ 2H2 O…l† ¡! 2KOH…aq† ‡ H2 …g†

Although this demonstration does not provide explicit evidence of the formation of
potassium ions, the formation is implied by the direct identification of hydrogen
gas (via the bubbles) and hydroxide ions (via the color change of the indicator).
The first half-reaction suggests that potassium readily (and often violently) reacts
with water and in the process loses an electron. As a result, the potassium ion
should be very unwilling to accept an electron, so it is unlikely that it will shuttle
electrons from one electrode to the other. This contradicts theory 2, which pro-
poses that cations (and anions) pick up and release electrons at the electrodes. The
second half-reaction demonstrates that free electrons are unstable in water, redu-
cing water to hydrogen gas and hydroxide ions. This suggests that theory 1 is not
correct because free electrons react with water before they can flow between elec-
trodes. As a result, only theory 3 is consistent with these observations.
 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 525

The final demonstration was a theoretical argument concerning ‘counting’

electrons. The students were told that the number of electrons flowing in an
electrochemical cell can be measured at three places: at the zinc anode (by con-
verting the mass of zinc lost to moles of electrons); at the copper cathode (by
converting the mass of copper gained to moles of electrons); and in the wire (by
converting the electrical current in amperes to moles of electrons using Faraday’s
constant). They were also told that these values are the same within experimental
error: for every electron flowing through the wire, there was an electron released at
the anode and another one consumed at the cathode. Therefore, no electrons could
have entered the solution at the cathode because they were all used to reduce the
copper ions. Similarly, if any electrons were transferred from solution to the
anode, there would be more electrons flowing through the wire than released by
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zinc atoms at the anode. This electron ‘book-keeping’ discounts theories 1 and 2
and leaves theory 3 as the only valid theory. This lesson also provided the instruc-
tor with an opportunity to discuss how scientific theories are tested. In particular,
the students were told that although scientific theories can be discounted if they
are not consistent with empirical observations, they can never be proved ‘correct’,
only ‘consistent with the observations’.
Student who did not receive conceptual change instruction did not view these
demonstrations. These students were instructed that current flow in electrolyte
solutions consists of ion flow, but existing micsonceptions were not actively con-
fronted.

Dependent measures
The pre-test consisted of the average of the students’ prior two midterm chemistry
examination scores and was used to measure students’ chemistry knowledge. Post-
test questions were administered to the students after the experiment was per-
formed (immediate post-test) and on their third hour examination one month later
(delayed post-test).
The immediate post-test (see figure 1) contains three types of questions.
The first question is an algorithmic question that could be answered correctly
using a mathematical formula and does not require conceptual understanding.
Questions 2-5 are conceptual multiple-choice questions that are visual in nature
and concern the flow of electrons or ions in aqueous solutions at the electrodes
and the two ends of the salt bridge. The words ‘in solution’ were bold-faced to
emphasize that only the movements in solution were depicted. Questions 6-9
consisted of multiple-choice questions concerning the flow of electrons or ions
in aqueous solutions and were classified as conceptual questions that are verbal
in nature.
For the algorithmic question in the immediate post-test, students received
scores from 0 to 2; students with correct responses received 2 points, students
who calculated the value using an incorrect assignment of the anode and cathode
received 1 point, and students providing an incorrect or no response received 0
points. For each multiple-choice question, students received 1 point for choosing a
distractor that did not suggest that electrons migrated in solution and 0 points for
choosing a distractor that did suggest that electrons migrated in solution.
Distractors that correspond to the misconception are marked with an asterisk in
Downloaded by [Universiti Sains Malaysia] at 03:29 12 March 2015

526
M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE
 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 527
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Figure 1. Data collection instrument for the immediate post-test.

figure 1. Student conceptual scores for the four visual and four verbal conceptual
questions were totalled and both values were compared among treatment groups.
The delayed post-test also contained visual and verbal conceptual questions
concerning electron and ion migration in aqueous solutions. The visual con-
ceptual questions appear in figure 2, with the distractors corresponding to
the misconception marked by asterisks. The three verbal conceptual questions
were verbatim reproductions or were very similar in content and structure to
the verbal questions appearing in figure 1. The composite visual conceptual and
verbal conceptual scores for these questions were compared among treatment
groups.

Data analysis
The equivalence of the four treatment groups was tested by performing a two-way
…2 £ 2† analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the pre-test scores. The algorithmic
 528 M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE
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Figure 2. Visual conceptual questions presented in the delayed post-test.

score on the immediate post-test, and the conceptual visual and conceptual
verbal scores on both the immediate and delayed post-tests were also analysed
for treatment and interaction effects by performing a 2 £ 2 ANOVA on each of
these scores. The conceptual visual and conceptual verbal scores on the delayed
post-test were also compared for the students who did and did not participate
in the experiment by performing a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA),
corrected for pre-test scores.
 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 529

Results and discussion

No significant differences were found among the four treatment groups on the
basis of their pre-test scores (all p > 0:05). As there were no significant differences
among the treatment groups, the post-test scores could be compared using
ANOVAs instead of ANCOVAs.
Comparison of the algorithmic scores on the immediate post-test also demon-
strated that there were no significant differences (or interaction) among the four
groups based on this question (all p > 0:05). This is consistent with our first
hypothesis and is not surprising, since each treatment group received the same
instruction for calculating cell potentials. This result, along with the analysis of the
pre-test scores, suggests that the four treatment groups were equivalent prior to
the experimental treatment.
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Visual conceptual questions

For the visual conceptual questions on the immediate post-test, there were no
treatment effects for either the animations or conceptual change instruction and
there was no interaction between the two treatments (all p > 0:05). A separate
analysis of the two types of visual conceptual questions (electrode reactions and
salt-bridge reactions) revealed a significant difference in the proportion of
responses consistent with the misconception: 55% of the responses contained
electrons in solution around the electrodes, while only 14% of the responses con-
tained electrons in solution around the salt bridge (t134 ˆ 8:45, p < 0:0001).
The authors became concerned that students might have had difficulty inter-
preting the electrode pictures because they do not describe the flow of electrons
within the electrodes.
As a result, the visual conceptual electrode questions were revised to show
electron flow in the electrodes for the delayed post-test (figure 2). Using these
revised questions, there were still no treatment or interaction effects for the ani-
mations or conceptual change instruction on the delayed post-test (all p > 0:05).
While 9% of the student responses contained electrons in solution at the electrodes,
only 2% of their responses contained electrons in solution at the salt bridge
…t133 ˆ 2:910, p ˆ 0:0042). These results are in contrast to the second hypothesis,
which predicted that there would be a significant effect for both the computer
animations and conceptual change instruction on the visual conceptual questions.
Analysis of the electrode and salt-bridge questions may help to explain why
there was no effect for the conceptual change instruction on the visual questions.
The salt-bridge questions showed either electrons or ions flowing through the salt
bridge, which correspond to theories 1 and 3, respectively. However, students
believing theory 2 might have chosen distractors showing ions flowing through
the salt bridge (since the ‘piggybacked’ electron would be invisible), therefore, this
question may not have discriminated between students believing theories 2 and 3.
A similar argument may be made for the electrode questions, although the
distractors showing ions and electrons in solution may have appeared acceptable
to students believing theory 2.
Computer animation research in chemistry instruction (Zeidler and McIntosh
1989, Griffiths and Preston 1992, Hakerem et al. 1993, Greenbowe et al. 1995,
Williamson and Abraham 1995) and Rieber’s review of animation research (1989)
 530 M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE

suggested that computer animations can be effective at helping students visualize

chemical processes at the molecular level. Therefore, the fact that these animations
did not have a significant effect on student responses to the visual conceptual
questions is puzzling. Rieber concluded that animations may not be as effective
with older students: ‘College-aged students probably do not benefit from instruc-
tion which contains additional visual eleborations since they are able to form
mental images without additional lesson support’ (Rieber 1989: 11). However,
several of the chemistry studies (Zeidler and McIntosh 1989, Greenbowe et al.
1995, Williamson and Abraham 1995) reported significant animation effects for
college students. Williamson and Abraham (1995) postulated that college students
may only need to be prompted to think about dynamic chemical processes on the
molecular level. This argument could also explain why animation effects were not
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observed with our students. These students viewed several computer animations
depicting chemical processes on the molecular level (acid-base chemistry, kinetics,
and equilibrium reactions) in lecture before the experiment was performed and
viewed electrochemistry animations between the immediate and delayed post-tests
in lecture and in the laboratory. Therefore, it is possible that these students were
already prompted to think about chemical processes on the molecular level before
the experiment was performed.

Verbal conceptual questions

For the verbal conceptual questions on the immediate post-test, a significant treat-
ment effect was measured for conceptual change instruction …p < 0:0001†. There
was also a significant interaction between the use of animations and conceptual
change instruction …p ˆ 0:0023†. The results of the ANOVA for the verbal con-
ceptual questions on the immediate post-test are listed in table 1; the average
scores for each treatment group are listed in table 2. Comparison of the mean

Table 1. ANOVA results for the verbal questions (immediate post-test)

Sum of Mean
Source df squares square F value p value

Animation 1 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.81

Conceptual change 1 20.29 20.29 16.73 0.0001*
Animation £ 1 11.68 11.68 9.63 0.0023*
conceptual change
Error 131 158.89 1.21

* Significant at the 0.05 level.

Table 2. Group means for the verbal questions (immediate post-test)

Group Count Mean Standard deviation

Control 34 2.0 1.0

Animation 33 2.5 1.0
Conceptual change 38 3.4 1.1
Both 30 2.7 1.2
 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 531

Table 3. ANOVA results for the verbal questions (delayed post-test)

Sum of Mean
Source df squares square F value p value

Animation 1 0.15 0.15 0.35 0.56

Conceptual change 1 2.24 2.24 5.31 0.023*
Animation £ 1 0.06 0.06 0.14 0.71
conceptual change
Error 131 55.24 0.42

* Significant at the 0.05 level.

Table 4. Group means for the verbal questions (delayed post-test)

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Group Count Mean Standard deviation

Control 34 2.4 0.7

Animation 33 2.3 0.8
Conceptual change 38 2.7 0.6
Both 30 2.6 0.5

scores for the students who received conceptual change instruction and for those
who did not (3.1 versus 2.3) demonstrates that conceptual change instruction was
effective at confronting this misconception. The interaction effect for the verbal
questions suggests that, among students who did not receive conceptual change
instruction, computer animations were effective at confronting this misconception
(2.0 for the control group versus 2.5 for the animation group). For the students
who received conceptual change instruction, however, there appeared to be a
negative effect associated with the animations (3.4 for the conceptual change
group versus 2.7 for the group that received both treatments).
The results of the ANOVA for the verbal conceptual questions on the delayed
post-test are listed in table 3 and the average scores for each treatment group are
listed in table 4. A significant treatment effect was measured for the conceptual
change instruction …p ˆ 0:023†. A comparison of the mean scores for the students
who received conceptual change instruction and for those who did not (2.7 versus
2.4) demonstrates that the effectiveness of conceptual change instruction at con-
fronting this misconception persists over time (at least one month).
Because the verbal conceptual questions were not directly concerned with
visualization or motion, we did not expect to see an animation effect for these
questions. On the immediate post-test, conceptual change instruction significantly
decreased the proportion of student responses consistent with the misconception.
This result clearly demonstrates that conceptual change instruction based on the
chemical demonstrations used in this experiment was effective at confronting the
misconception that the flow of current in electrolyte solutions consists of the
migration of electrons. The positive effect for conceptual change instruction was
also present on the delayed post-test and suggests that the chemical demonstra-
tions and subsequent discussions had a lasting effect on students’ conceptions of
current flow in aqueous solutions.
The effect for the conceptual change instruction and the lack of an animation
effect for the verbal conceptual questions are consistent with the third hypothesis.
 532 M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE

However, the interaction between the use of animations and conceptual change
instruction was not expected. This interaction implied that both animations and
conceptual change instruction may have been helpful in confronting the miscon-
ception; however, when both methods were presented the animations may have
been distracting to the students. The distractive nature of static visual pictures has
been previously reported (Willows 1978, Dwyer 1979), and Dwyer concluded that
visuals containing realistic details may require more processing time and better
abilities to attend to relevant cues. Rieber (1989) concluded that using animations
for instructional tasks that do not specifically relate to the attributes of visualiza-
tion or motion may distract learners from the purpose of the lesson. It is possible
that students who viewed the animations and the conceptual change instruction
focused their attention on the identities and motions of the aqueous ions depicted
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in the animations instead of focusing on the concept that ions, not electrons,
migrate in solution.

Participants versus non-participants

As the delayed post-test was administered as part of an examination, delayed post-
test data was also collected for students who did not attend recitation when the
instructional treatments were performed. This provided the authors with a chance
to compare students who participated in this study with those who did not.
The average pre-test score of the non-participants was significantly lower than
that of the participating students (65.3 versus 76.3, t188 ˆ 3:920, p < 0:0001);
therefore, it was necessary to compare these groups using ANCOVAs. A
one-way ANCOVA was performed on the verbal and visual delayed post-test
scores for the participants and non-participants using pre-test scores as a covariate

Table 5. ANCOVA results for the verbal and visual questions (delayed
post-test) for participants and non-participants.
Sum of Mean
Source df squares square F value p value

Visual conceptual questions

Covariate 1 26.46 26.46 32.82 0.001*
(pre-test)
Main Effect 1 6.56 6.56 8.13 0.005*
(participation)
Explained 2 43.55 21.77 27.01 0.001*
Residual 187 150.77 0.81
Total 189 194.32 1.03
Verbal conceptual questions
Covariate 1 16.70 16.70 34.66 0.001*
(pre-test)
Main Effect 1 0.10 0.10 0.21 0.64
(participation)
Explained 2 18.87 9.43 19.58 0.001*
Residual 187 90.10 0.48
Total 189 108.97 0.58

* Significant at the 0.05 level.

 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 533

Table 6. Group means for the pre-test scores and the visual questions
(delayed post-test) for participants and non-participants
Pre-test scores Visual questions

Standard Standard
Group Count Mean deviation Mean deviation

Participants 135 73.6 13.2 3.8 0.7

Non-participants 55 65.3 13.5 3.1 1.5

(table 5). The ANCOVA for the verbal conceptual questions demonstrates that
participation in the study did not affect students’ abilities to answer the verbal
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questions …p > 0:05†. The ANCOVA for the visual conceptual questions, on the
other hand, demonstrates that participation in the study significantly affected the
students’ abilities to answer the visual questions …p ˆ 0:005†. The mean pre-test
scores for the participants and non-participants and the mean visual scores for
these groups are listed in table 6. The significant effect for the pre-test
…p < 0:001† for both types of questions suggests that students’ prior chemistry
knowledge affected their abilities to answer these questions.
Participation in this experiment appeared to enhance students’ abilities to
answer visual conceptual questions, as evidenced by the mean visual scores for
the participants (3.8) and non-participants (3.1). However, it did not appear to
have an effect on their abilities to answer verbal conceptual questions. The authors
note that many of the non-participants in this study most certainly did not attend
either the lectures or recitations, but most likely they did read the textbook and did
study independently for the examinations. Therefore, any differences between
participants and non-participants cannot be attributed solely to the instructional
treatments that occurred in recitation. As the verbal questions appeared in a form
that students are likely to be very familiar with (simple multiple-choice questions),
it is unsurprising that students who may not have attended recitations and lectures
but studied on their own were still successful in answering these traditional ques-
tions. Although visual questions are not widely used in traditional high school
chemistry courses or high school or college chemistry textbooks (Nurrenbern
and Pickering 1987, Pickering 1990, Sawrey 1990), throughout the semester the
instructor of this course stressed in lectures the importance of being able to explain
chemical processes on the molecular level, used computer animations and concep-
tual questions in lecture, and used conceptual questions on recitation quizzes. As a
result, students who attended lectures and recitations would have been prompted
to think about visual questions while students who did not answer the visual
questions on the immediate post-test or did not regularly attend lecture or recita-
tion may never have seen visual conceptual questions before the delayed post-test
and may have been unprepared for these questions.

Conclusions and implications

Our first hypothesis (no effect or interaction for the algorithmic question)
was corroborated by the data and suggests that the four treatment groups were
equivalent prior to the study.
 534 M. J. SANGER AND T. J. GREENBOWE

In our second hypothesis, we theorized that there would be a positive treat-

ment effect on the visual conceptual questions for the computer animations and
conceptual change instruction. However, no treatment effect was seen for either
instructional method and this hypothesis was rejected. The lack of an animation
effect is consistent with the hypothesis that college students do not need visual
elaborations because they are capable of forming mental images independently
(Rieber 1989) and that college students may only need to be prompted to think
about chemical processes at the microscopic level in order to apply their chemistry
knowledge to test questions involving molecular representations (Williamson and
Abraham 1995). However, there may be another explanation. While the students
who viewed the animations saw sophisticated animated visuals depicting the
motions of ions and electrons in a simple galvanic cell, the students who did not
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view the animations still saw visual pictures (in the form of crude chalkboard
drawings) that were updated throughout the lecture (i.e., ‘animated’ in time).
Therefore, it could be argued that instead of comparing the effectiveness of ‘ani-
mations’ versus ‘no animations’ we were comparing the effectiveness of ‘profes-
sional’ versus ‘crude’ animations, in which case no instructional effect would be
expected (Rieber 1989, Clark 1994). The lack of a treatment effect for the con-
ceptual change instruction may be attributed to the fact that the distractors for the
visual conceptual questions could not adequately discriminate between students
believing that electrons are shuttled from the cathode to the anode in solution by
ions and students believing that ion migration in solution constitutes the electrical
current.
In our third hypothesis, we theoretized that there would be a positive treat-
ment effect on the verbal conceptual questions for the conceptual change instruc-
tion but that there would be no effect for the computer animations and no
interaction. The experimental data suggests that conceptual change instruction
using chemical demonstrations was effective at addressing the misconception
that electrons flow in aqueous solutions for the verbal conceptual questions on
both the immediate and delayed post-tests. The lack of an animation effect is
consistent with the conclusion that incorporating static or animated visuals in
instruction is supported only if the learning involves visualization, motion, or
trajectory (Rieber 1989). The instructional interaction measured between the use
of the computer animations and conceptual change instruction is also consistent
with the conclusion that static or animated visuals may prove to be distracting
when the questions do not require students to visualize (Willows 1978, Dwyer
1979, Rieber 1989).
Students who participated in this experiment and who attended lectures and
recitations that emphasized the relationship between the microscopic, macro-
scopic, and symbolic representations and the importance of being able to answer
visual conceptual questions were more likely to answer the visual questions
correctly than students who did not participate, but there was no effect for the
verbal questions. This participation effect and the fact that more than 90% of the
students in this class were able to answer correctly the visual conceptual questions
on the delayed post-test corroborated prior research suggesting that appropriate
instruction including the use of animations can enhance conceptual understanding
(Zeidler and McIntosh 1989, Griffiths and Preston 1992, Hakerem et al. 1993,
Greenbowe et al. 1995, Williamson and Abraham 1995). They are also consistent
with Pickering’s conclusion (1990) that students’ difficulties in answering visual
 MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING ELECTRON FLOW 535

conceptual questions are due more to a lack of familiarity with the question types
than to an inability to understand the concepts.
The results of this preliminary study suggest that the effectiveness of the
combination of computer animations and conceptual change instruction in
changing students’ conceptions may be attributed more to the use of conceptual
change instruction and less to the use of computer animations. However, there are
problems with this study which need to be addressed before definitive conclusions
can be made about the effectiveness of computer animations or conceptual change
instruction at preventing or dispelling student misconceptions in electrochemistry.
The first problem concerns how the conceptual change instruction was
designed and carried out. Effective conceptual change instruction usually starts
with actively eliciting and discussing student misconceptions (Champagne et al.
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1985, Roth et al. 1987, Smith et al. 1993). Although the three theories presented in
this study were derived from prior student interviews (Garnett and Treagust
1992a, 1992b, Sanger and Greenbowe 1997a), there is no guarantee that any of
these students believed (or even understood) the three possibilities presented or
that some students didn’t have other equally ingrained possibilities in mind that
were not addressed. In our attempt to control variables in this study, the students’
role in the conceptual change instruction may have become relatively passive
(i.e., watching the demonstrations and listening to the lecture), which may not
be conducive to conceptual change (Smith et al. 1993).
The second problem concerns how the visual conceptual questions were
written and how students may have interpreted them. We have already mentioned
that the visual questions used in this study did not sufficiently discriminate
between the three theories presented to the students. However, the fact that no
effects were seen for the animations or the conceptual change instruction for these
questions either before or after they were altered may suggest that students who
were unfamiliar with these types of questions may have had difficulty interpreting
them.
It is important for chemistry instructors to design and implement instructional
methods that promote the learning of chemistry as opposed to simply teaching
students how to take chemistry tests. However, further research is needed to
determine the effect that computer animations and conceptual change instruction
have on student misconceptions in electrochemistry.

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