The concept of acids and bases is often considered a challenging topic for students because it requires a broad understanding at various levels of representation. Misconceptions usually arise during the learning process of this topic. This study aims to identify students' misconceptions regarding the concept of acids and bases. A total of 145 eleventh-grade students from two public high schools in Bekasi, Indonesia, who had completed this topic, participated in this study. A two-tier diagnostic test was used to assess these misconceptions. The findings revealed that misconceptions occurred in understanding the characteristics of acid-base solutions, the Bronsted-Lowry and Lewis acid-base theories, as well as in determining acid and base strength based on ionization. Furthermore, it was found that female students demonstrated a better conceptual understanding of acid-base chemistry compared to their male counterparts. Identifying misconceptions helps teachers recognize students' preconceptions and use them to improve learning.
Sari et al. (Mon,) studied this question.