Upper secondary school students conceptual learning of optical spectroscopy

A Teaching Intervention Module (TIM) on optical spectroscopy was designed in the theoretical framework of the Model of Educational Reconstruction. This study illustrates a proposal for a conceptual survey related to the TIM implemented in three classes of N = 60 high school students (18-19 years old). We focused the survey on the nature of colors and the interpretation of spectra. The data analysis was carried out through answers' categorization. The results show that the students acquired a good knowledge about the mechanism of spectra formation, but some aspects related to atomic emission (e.g., ionization process) would need more clarification.