Electrolysis: What Textbooks Don't Tell Us

Autor/inn/en	Chang, Hasok; Duncan, Katherine; Kim, Kihyang; Paik, Seoung-Hey
Titel	Electrolysis: What Textbooks Don't Tell Us
Quelle	In: Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 21 (2020) 3, S.806-822 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Duncan, Katherine)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1756-1108
DOI	10.1039/c9rp00218a
Schlagwörter	Science Instruction; Chemistry; Textbooks; Secondary School Science; College Science; Water; Scientific Concepts; Foreign Countries; English; Korean; Molecular Structure; Textbook Content; Science History; United Kingdom (England); South Korea + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Chemie; Textbook; Text book; Schulbuch; Lehrbuch; Wasser; Ausland; English language; Englisch; Koreanisch; Lehrbuchtext; History of science; Wissenschaftsgeschichte; Korea; Republik
Abstract	We present a critical discussion of how chemistry textbooks treat the electrolysis of water and aqueous salt solutions, based on a survey of general chemistry textbooks in English and Korean at secondary and tertiary levels, also informed by the historical background of 19th-century debates. English-language textbooks present various and contradictory accounts of the electrolysis of water; a key point of disagreement is whether hydrogen and oxygen gases originate from pre-existing H[superscript +] and OH[superscript -] ions, or from the direct reduction and oxidation of H[subscript 2]O molecules. School textbooks in South Korea all present the same account, with no indication of alternative views. A vast majority of all texts ignore the possibility that H[subscript 2] and O[subscript 2] may result from secondary reactions, which was a standard view in the late 19th century following the works of Daniell and Miller. Concerning the electrolysis of aqueous salt solutions, all texts give oversimplified views of competing reactions based on standard reduction/oxidation potentials. It is understandable that textbooks try to present sufficiently simple pictures that students at each level can handle; however, this should not be done in a way that shuts down questions. We recommend that students should be made aware that textbook accounts are only models, and encouraged to extend their learning beyond the models. The plausibility of our recommendations is shown in a pilot study we conducted with secondary school students in South Korea. (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	2022/1/01