Students’ chemical thinking

Publications about the students' chemical thinking

The Chemical Thinking lens is a powerful way to view chemistry as a means to solve problems and answer questions in the world at large, rather than as collection of diparate tasks and topics listed in the table of contents of a textbook. The development of this framework is based upon numerous classroom studies by researchers in the Sevian group and beyond.  Relevant publications about the characterization of students' chemical thinking are below.  Please feel free to  to request any papers that you are interested in reading if you are not able to obtain them from your library.


Banks, G., Clinchot, M., Cullipher, S., Huie, R., Lambertz, J., Lewis, R., Ngai, C., Sevian, H., Szteinberg, G., Talanquer, V., & Weinrich, M. (2015). Uncovering chemical thinking in students’ decision making: A fuel-choice scenario. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(10), 1610-1618.


Cullipher, S., Sevian, H., & Talanquer, V. (2015). Reasoning about benefits, costs, and risks of chemical substances: Mapping different levels of sophistication. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 16, 377-392.


Ngai, C., Sevian, H., & Talanquer, V. (2014). What is this substance? What makes it different? Mapping progression in students’ assumptions about chemical identity. International Journal of Science Education, 36(14), 2438-2461.


Ngai, C., & Sevian, H. (2017). Capturing chemical identity thinking. Journal of Chemical Education, 94(2), 137-148.


Sevian, H., Ngai, C., Szteinberg, G., Brenes, P., & Arce, H. (2015). Concepción de la identidad química en estudiantes y profesores de química: Parte I – la identidad química como base del concepto macroscópico de sustancia. Educación Química, 26(1), 13-20.


Szteinberg, G., Brenes, P., Arce, H., & Sevian, H. (2015). Concepción de la identidad química en estudiantes y profesores de química: Parte II – comparación entre participantes en dos universidades de diferentes países. Educación Química, 26(2), 100-116.


Stains, M., Escriu-Suñé, M., Molina, M., & Sevian, H. (2011). Assessing secondary and college students’ implicit assumptions about the particulate nature of matter: Development and validation of the Structure and Motion of Matter survey. Journal of Chemical Education, 45(6), 807-840.


Stains, M., & Sevian, H. (2015). Uncovering implicit assumptions: A large-scale study on students’ mental models of diffusion. Research in Science Education, 45(6), 807-840.


Sevian, H., Hugi-Cleary, D., Ngai, C., Wanjiku, F., & Baldoria, J. M. (2018). Comparison of learning in two context-based university chemistry classes. International Journal of Science Education, 40(10), 1239-1262. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2018.1470353


Sevian, H., & Couture, S. (2018). Epistemic games in substance characterization. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 19(4), 1029-1054.


Ngai, C., & Sevian, H. (2018). Probing the relevance of chemical identity thinking in biochemical contexts. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 17(4), 1-12.


Aguiar, O., Sevian, H., & El-Hani, C. N. (2018). Teaching about energy: Application of the conceptual profile theory to overcome the encapsulation of school science knowledge. Science & Education, 27(9/10), 863-893.