Despite receiving little in the way of instructional support, nine students proposed a coherent conceptual relationship, indicating that structure determines properties, which determine function. Findings suggest that the concepts of structure and properties were interpreted similarly between chemistry and biology, but students more closely associated the discussion of structure–property relationships with their chemistry courses and structure–function with biology. Fourteen university students concurrently enrolled in introductory chemistry and biology courses were interviewed to explore their perceptions regarding 1) the meaning of structure, properties, and function 2) the presentation of these concepts in their courses and 3) how these concepts might be related. Structure–property and structure–function relationships have long been considered important explanatory concepts in the disciplines of chemistry and biology, respectively. While many university students take science courses in multiple disciplines, little is known about how they perceive common concepts from different disciplinary perspectives.
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