Over the last decades several researchers discovered that children, pupils and even young adults develop their own understanding of "how nature really works". These pre-concepts concerning combustion, gases or conservation of mass are brought into lectures and teachers have to diagnose and to reflect on them for better instruction. In addition, there are ¿school-made misconceptions¿ concerning equilibrium, acid-base or redox reactions which originate from inappropriate curriculum and instruction materials. The primary goal of this monograph is to help teachers at universities, colleges and schools to diagnose and ¿cure¿ the pre-concepts. In case of the school-made misconceptions it will help to prevent them from the very beginning through reflective teaching. The volume includes detailed descriptions of class-room experiments and structural models to cure and to prevent these misconceptions.

The prime focus is to help the teacher to discover, diagnose and cure misconceptions at an early stage and to prevent them from the beginning

Perceptions of Ancient Scientists.- Students¿ Misconceptions and How to Overcome Them.- Substances and Properties.- Particle Concept of Matter.- Structure¿Property Relationships.- Chemical Equilibrium.- Acid¿Base Reactions.- Redox Reactions.- Complex Reactions.- Energy.