Teacher trainees' alternative conceptions about intermolecular forces

The study assessed the alternative conceptions that first-year teacher trainees have about intermolecular forces. Descriptive research design was adopted to examine the current situation as it exist. The sample involved 82 first-year chemistry major teacher trainees in the University of Education, Winneba. Purposively sampling technique was used to select students for the study. This is because most of them performed poorly in a pre-assessment test organised for them. Test was the main instrument for data collection. Simple percentages were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that 26% and 37% of the teacher trainees had alternative conceptions on Ion –dipole interaction and London dispersion forces, respectively. Also, more than 50% of the teacher trainees demonstrated alternative conceptions on hydrogen bonding. Some alternative conceptions identified in this study included: interactions between oppositely charged species give ionic bonds, London dispersion force occurs within a single molecule rather than between molecules, Covalent –ionic interaction is the major intermolecular force that exists in different I2 molecules, and the perception that any molecule which contains ‘O’ and ‘H’ forms hydrogen bonding irrespective of their position in the molecule (especially with organic structures used in the study). Another was that Hydrogen bonding only exists between ‘O’ and ‘H’ but not between N-H and F-H. It is recommended that science educators should develop appropriate interventions to improve students learning in intermolecular forces.