Abstract The wave nature of electron is not explained in detail in current structural chemistry textbooks although the nature is an important one for the electrons in atoms and molecules. To reduce the learning difficulty of this concept in the teaching practice, we described the physical character of the wave nature of electron as that one cannot predict its future position when it moves in a microscopic system. Our teaching activity suggested that most students can understand the concept properly. Moreover, we found that the class discussions on the concept could help most students to understand that it is both the particle nature and the wave nature of electrons that collectively lead to the result of electron diffraction.