Mental Model of Prospective Chemistry Teachers on Electrolyte and Nonelectrolyte Solutions

Abstract

This study aims to describe and explain the understanding of the three levels of chemistry and the mental model of prospective chemistry teachers on electrolyte and nonelectrolyte solutions. The research population was all 140 students of the Chemistry Education Study Program of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Undiksha on the odd semester of 2020/2021 academic year, with a sample of 114 students. Sampling was done by proportionate stratified random sampling. Data were collected by means of three-level multiple-choice objective tests, each level sequentially to measure understanding of the macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic levels. Data analysis was carried out descriptively. The results showed that students’ understanding of the macroscopic level was 34.21%, the submicroscopic level was 27.54%, and the symbolic level was 29.47%. Only 12.46% of mental model profiles are considered conceptual models, and the remaining 87.54% are classified as alternative mental models, which include 38.95% partially correct and 48.59% specific misconceptions. The data shows that students’ understanding of the three levels of chemistry is very low and most of their mental models on electrolyte and nonelectrolyte solutions are classified as alternative mental models.