Examining the Limitations of Representational Competence to Investigate Conceptual Change in Chemistry

This thesis identifies and explains the gaps in prior and current applications of representational competence construct in chemistry. Representational competence (RC) describes a set of skills that chemistry researchers Kozma and Russell observed experts demonstrate when engaging with disciplinary representations (Kozma & Russell, 1997; Kozma & Russell, 2005). These skills have commonly been used as a frame for other researchers to study student engagement with disciplinary representations and to design instructional practices to improve novice skill development.