Ionic liquids in chemistry teacher education: An interactive simulation on their fundamental structure-property relationships

Abstract

This research was conducted to reconstruct the activities of technochemistry education through interactive simulations of the relationship between structure of ionic liquids with their physico-chemical properties. This simulation was constructed to enhance the chemistry teacher students’ ability of the view of the nature of science and technology (VNoST). Ionic liquids were chosen as a technochemistry model because in this materials; the structure, properties and their performance can be connected to one another easily and attractively. By engineering its cation and anion structure, the properties of ionic liquids can be adjusted (tailored-made materials) to the needs of the engineer. Technochemistry education views education from the perspective of engineers and scientists who work not only on inquiry, but also on the perspective of engineering and design. The research was conducted to overcome the problem of the low performance of Indonesian students’ scientific literacy as revealed in the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) study from 2000-2015. The weak performance of scientific literacy of students can be caused by weak understanding of the teacher of the nature of science and technology or View of Nature of Science and Technology (VNoST), a core component of scientific literacy. Reconstruction of technochemistry education activities carried out is directed to produce interactive simulation software for the engineering of ionic liquids structures. The method used in this research is Research and Development (R&D) through the Model of Educational Reconstruction (MER). The first stage is analyzing, clarifying, and reconstructing the structure of scientific content (scientific explanation) into a content structure suitable for learning (pedagogical explanation). The next stage of analysis studies related to students’ pre-conceptions on the reconstructed topic. In the final stage, the teaching-learning process is implemented using the software produced and reflects the results of the implementation for the improvement process through a quasi-experimental study. Based on the results of the implementation, this interactive simulation has the potential to enhance students’ VNoST abilities. This is indicated by the more students who have the Realist category in six of the eight questions on the existing VNOST aspects.