Students' Competence in Translating between Different Types of Chemical Representations

Autor/inn/en	Gkitzia, Vasiliki; Salta, Katerina; Tzougraki, Chryssa
Titel	Students' Competence in Translating between Different Types of Chemical Representations
Quelle	In: Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 21 (2020) 1, S.307-330 (24 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Gkitzia, Vasiliki) ORCID (Salta, Katerina) ORCID (Tzougraki, Chryssa)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1756-1108
DOI	10.1039/c8rp00301g
Schlagwörter	Chemistry; Science Instruction; Grade 11; Secondary School Science; Undergraduate Students; College Science; Foreign Countries; Science Process Skills; Scientific Concepts; Concept Formation; High School Students; Translation; Pictorial Stimuli; Knowledge Level; Greece + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Chemie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; School year 11; 11. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 11; Ausland; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Fantasieanregung; Wissensbasis; Griechenland
Abstract	Meaningful understanding of chemistry, among others, includes the ability of an individual to think simultaneously at macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic levels, and this presupposes the competence to translate between different types of chemical representations. In this study, we investigated 11th grade Greek students' and 3rd year undergraduate chemistry students' ability to translate chemical representations from one level of chemistry (e.g., submicroscopic) into another (e.g., symbolic) concerning the basic chemical concepts: "chemical element", "chemical compound", "aqueous solution" and "solid state of matter", which have already been taught in earlier grades. We followed a mixed method design in which both quantitative and qualitative research instruments were developed and used. These instruments consisted of multiple choice and open-ended questions, which included real pictures (macroscopic), symbolizations and submicroscopic diagrams. Various representations of the three types were given to the students and they were asked to choose or to construct an equivalent one of a different type. Our results showed that the 11th grade students' ability to move across the three levels of chemistry is very low, while the 3rd year undergraduate chemistry students' performance is higher but not satisfactory. In addition, the results obtained from the application of "translation questions" between the three levels of chemistry highlighted many students' alternative conceptions, some of which still persist among the undergraduate students. The students showed lower performance in translations concerning the concepts "chemical compound" and "aqueous solution" than those concerning the concepts "chemical element" and "solid state of matter". The students also showed the lowest level of performance in translating the submicroscopic representations into the symbolic ones. Generally, our results indicate that translating between different types of chemical representations is a very challenging task, which depends on students' conceptual understanding. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Royal Society of Chemistry. Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44-1223 420066; Fax: +44-1223 423623; e-mail: cerp@rsc.org; Web site: http://www.rsc.org/cerp
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01