Addressing Misconceptions about the Particulate Nature of Matter among Secondary-School and High-School Students in the Republic of Macedonia

Marina I Stojanovska,Vladimir M Petrusevski,Bojan T Soptrajanov

doi:10.4236/ce.2012.35091

Abstract

A study was conducted to identify concepts about the particulate nature of matter among secondary- and high-school students (N = 187) and to address some misconceptions regarding this topic, especially the misunderstandings related to the vague ideas of the relationship between the macro and micro world. Data were collected using both quantitative (six-item multiple-choice instrument in a pre-test-post-test design) and qualitative (semi-structured focus group interviews) methods. Paired-samples t-test analysis showed that students experienced significantly higher results in the post-test when compared to the pre-test, thus confirming the efficiency of the intervention program in facilitating the understanding of some basic elements of the theory and practice concerning the particulate nature of matter (widely known as particle theory concepts, a term which will be used in this paper as well) among students of different levels of study. The findings revealed seven misconceptions prevalent by more than 20% of students and some additional ones emerged from the in-depth focus group discussions. The analysis of the content of textbooks indicated that some erroneous chemical concepts might have been formed as a result of the teaching of chemistry and that of physics, as well. The use of animations and molecular models had a positive effect on students and pointed to the need of introducing, in the chemistry teaching, the new material more visually.

Highlights

Chemistry is a subject based on concepts, many of which are abstract and are hard to grasp and learn especially when the students are put in a position to believe without seeing
The results of the paired-samples t-test analysis showed that that students experienced significantly higher results in the post-test when compared to the pre-test in each of the four sub-samples and in the total sample (Table 2) which indicates that the intervention program was efficient in improving the students’ knowledge and understanding of particle theory concepts
The overall findings resulting from this research were positive and suggested that the intervention program effectively contributed to the improvement in the knowledge of students and their understanding of particle theory concepts

Summary

Introduction

Chemistry is a subject based on concepts, many of which are abstract and are hard to grasp and learn especially when the students are put in a position to believe without seeing. It has been known that the misconceptions are powerful, extremely persistent and hard to change, creating obstacles to further learning (Canpolat, 2006; Pabuçcu & Geban, 2006). Many misconceptions concerning various chemistry (and science in general) topics have been documented (Horton, 2007; Kind, 2004). Many studies in the field of science misconceptions and difficulties in learning and understanding chemical concepts have been reported (Chiu, 2005; Cliff, 2009; Çalýk et al, 2005; Kariper, 2011; Levy Nahum et al, 2004; Morgіl & Yörük, 2006; Taber, 2011; Wenning, 2008). Many misconceptions are due to the fact that students do not distinguish between macroscopic and microscopic explanations (Bucat, 2004; Chandrasegaran et al, 2007; Meijer, 2011)

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Conclusion