Abstract
To describe the behavior of matter and energy, chemists classify them in three distinct domains: macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic. The ability to use these three representations is the basis for understanding concepts in chemistry. This study aims to analyze students' ability to identify symbolic representations in chemistry. The research design uses a one shot case study. The subjects of this study were students of prospective science teachers as many as 85 students. Data collection techniques using tests and rubrics. The results showed that of the ten symbolic representation statements, only three statements achieved the highest percentage of correct answers, namely statements about writing ionization reactions and writing electron symbols. There are two statements where almost 90 percent of students answered incorrectly. The statement is about reversible or irreversible reaction equations and exothermic reaction equations. From this research, it can be concluded that students' ability to identify symbolic representations in chemistry still needs to be improved, because the average score is still low.
Highlights
Chemists study and describe the behavior of matter and energy in three different domains: macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic
From the results of the study, it was found that the students' ability to identify ten symbolic representation statements is shown in Figure 1 below
The statement is about writing ionization reactions and writing electron symbols.At number 9, the symbolic representation for the reaction equation is reversible or irreversible
Summary
Chemists study and describe the behavior of matter and energy in three different domains: macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic. These domains provide different ways of considering and describing chemical behavior. Macro is a Greek word meaning “big” The macroscopic domain is familiar to us. It is the realm of an everyday is directly observed by the human eye or touch. The macroscopic domain includes chemistry in everyday life or in the laboratory, where we can observe and measure physical and chemical properties, or observe changes such as density, solubility, and flammability
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