The Picture Is Not the Point: Toward Using Representations as Models for Making Sense of Phenomena

Organic chemistry students are routinely bombarded with an array of specialized representations (e.g., electron-pushing mechanisms, Newman projections, chair conformations). For practicing chemists, the purpose of representing aspects of a system is to enable prediction or explanation of phenomena. For students, the purpose of drawing and translating between representations is often much less clear. Commonly, “draw the thing” is treated as the end-goal of instruction and assessment. We agree with a chorus of science education scholars that learning science should not be materially different from doing science. With respect to representations, that means that students should use representations for the purpose of attending to and visualizing the components of a system salient to a productive explanation or prediction. Here, we encourage the community to reflect on how and why representations are integrated into their organic chemistry courses. Are drawing and translating between representations treated as ends unto themselves, or are they part of an ensemble of activities directed at understanding why phenomena unfold as they do? We are hopeful that the conversations this commentary provokes help us move toward using representations as models for sensemaking.