Representations are widely used in chemistry and STEM to depict complex and abstract concepts. Undergraduate chemistry students are often expected to spatially visualize molecular representations from two-dimensional structures and translate into three-dimensions, make connections among multiple representations, and obtain structural, functional, and mechanistic information from those representations. Evidence suggests that students are often over reliant on surface features of representations, often without the support to make underlying connections to chemical principles embedded within those representations. Our research group investigates undergraduate and graduate chemistry students' underlying cognitive processes and attentional areas of focus while viewing chemistry representations as they solve problems. Specifically, our group is interested in: 1) how novices and experts differ in their visual processing behavior during tasks including chemistry representations, 2) the data frames and cognitive resources that students activate when solving tasks including chemistry representations, and 3) how these frames and resources are related to their visual processing data. Following a mixed-methods approach, quantitative eye tracking data and qualitative retrospective think aloud interview data is collected as participants view chemistry representations. Implications from our work can be used to promote student representational competence skills in the context of undergraduate and graduate STEM education.
