Mental Models of the Students From Different Levels of Education About The Structure Of Atom

The current study it was attempted to determine the ability of middle school students, pre-service science teachers and physics and chemistry graduates enrolled in a pedagogical formation program for questioning well-established scientific facts related to the structure of atom by investigating the models they have constructed in their minds about the structure of atom. The participating students were asked to draw the atom models in their minds, to illustrate their knowledge about the attraction and repulsion of electric forces and to indicate what would happen if the reverse of what they know where the truth through drawings. The study employed the phenomenological design. The qualitative data collected from the students were first grouped through coding. Then, categories and themes were created from the codes and frequency and percentage values related to the categories and themes were calculated. The results of the study have revealed that adequate success for these research group has not been accomplished in teaching of abstract concepts in each level of education