Kim Chwee Daniel Tan

The Insidious Nature of ‘Hard‐Core’ Alternative Conceptions: Implications for the constructivist research programme of patterns in high school students’ and pre‐service teachers’ thinking about ionisation energy

The present study contributes to the constructivist research programme (RP) into learning science by comparing patterns in responses from two groups of learners—senior high school students and pre‐service teachers—in the same educational context (Singapore), to a diagnostic instrument relating to the topic of ionisation energies. This topic is currently included in the curriculum for 16‐ to 19‐year‐old students studying chemistry in Singapore (and elsewhere). The comparison shows that: (1) although graduate pre‐service teachers offered some types of incorrect responses less frequently than high school students; (2) they retained high levels of alternative conceptions commonly found among high school students; and (3) of particular note, certain alternative conceptions were found to be more common among the graduates. This suggests the intuitive appeal of certain alternative conceptions is such that they can readily be reproduced down ‘generations’ of learners. The findings are explored in terms of a range of conceptual resources that have been developed within the constructivist RP. The analysis suggests that the curriculum sets out inappropriate target knowledge for senior high school students, given the nature of the subject matter and the prior learning of the students. It is also suggested that it may be fruitful to consider conceptual learning in terms analogous to the RP found in science, and that from this perspective certain insidious alternative conceptions can be understood as derived from commitments that are taken for granted and protected from explicit challenge by a protective belt of refutable auxiliary conceptions.

Students’ Conceptions of Ionisation Energy: A Cross‐cultural Study

Previous studies have indicated that A‐level students in the UK and Singapore have difficulty learning the topic of ionisation energy. A two‐tier multiple‐choice instrument developed in Singapore in an earlier study, the Ionisation Energy Diagnostic Instrument, was administered to A‐level students in the UK, advanced placement high school students in the USA, and first‐year university students in China, New Zealand, and Spain to determine whether the students from different countries and educational systems had similar conceptions and difficulties as the students in Singapore with the concepts assessed in the instrument. The results showed that, in general, the students in all six samples had similar alternative conceptions, which were grouped under the categories of octet rule framework, stable fully‐filled and half‐filled subshell conceptions, and conservation of force thinking. The students also resorted to relation‐based thinking when answering items involving the trend of ionisation energies across Period 3. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.

Datalogging in Singapore Schools: Supporting Effective Implementations.

This paper reports the findings of a national survey on the use of dataloggers in secondary schools (grades 7–10) and junior colleges (grades 11–12). In particular, it explores the types of learning activities that teachers conduct using dataloggers, the support structures they deem necessary and the difficulties they face. Of the 593 respondents, 394 (67%) had used dataloggers in the last two years, mainly in demonstrations and set experiments. The three most important support structures included: supportive laboratory technicians, training on the use of dataloggers, and instructional material on how to use dataloggers within the curriculum. The difficulties which deterred the respondents from using dataloggers included the logistics and time taken to set up datalogging equipment and activities, insufficient numbers of computer workstations, and the mishandling of equipment by students, leading to equipment malfunctions. To expand the use of dataloggers in school, the respondents suggest that dedicated laboratories be set up for datalogging activities, more curricular material to support datalogging be prepared, more familiarisation courses be run for teachers and laboratory technicians and, in particular, how dataloggers fit within an inquiry science learning approach.

Exploring students’ understanding of electrochemical cells using an enhanced two-tier diagnostic instrument

Background: The development of two-tier multiple-choice questions has permitted the diagnosis of students’ understanding on various topics in the sciences as well as helped to ascertain the alternative conceptions they have. A limitation of two-tier diagnostic instruments that has been noted in the literature, but which has not been systematically explored, is that some questions can have a diagonal response. This can allow students to select a second-tier response based on cues from a particular response in the first tier, and it can limit the analytical utility of the diagnostic instrument to some extent. Purpose: The study explores an enhancement of the traditional two-tier diagnostic instrument to address diagonal response. In the format proposed, there are dual sections for both the answer and reason tiers. The answer tier is in dichotomous form and for each of the dichotomous responses, there are separate polytomous responses in the reason tier. Sample: There were 99 students of grade 10 level who participated in this study. Design and Method: The research design follows the usual approach adopted for the development of diagnostic instruments but with some modifications. The topic of electrochemical cells was chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of the enhanced format of the two-tier instrument. Results: It was found that with the enhanced format, the issue of diagonal response has been satisfactorily addressed. Also, a situation where students get the answer wrong but the reason correct, which is sometimes encountered in two-tier questions, does not arise with this format. The instrument has also been able to shed some light on the students’ understanding of electrochemical cells and their alternative conceptions. Conclusions: The enhanced format of the two-tier instrument proposed in this study can also be used for the study of alternative conceptions in science education.

Linking the Macroscopic, Sub-microscopic and Symbolic Levels: The Case of Inorganic Qualitative Analysis

Basic Grade 10 inorganic qualitative analysis in Singapore requires students to carry out procedures using chemicals, apparatus and appropriate techniques for which they record their observations and make inferences based on the observations. As students are assessed mainly on their written observations, they focus on getting the correct results and writing ‘standard’ observations. Thus, many students merely follow instructions given in the worksheet and seldom think about or understand the reactions involved especially in terms of what is occurring in these reactions at the sub-microscopic level. To respond to this situation, the authors first designed the Qualitative Analysis Diagnostic Instrument to identify students’ understanding of the reactions involved in qualitative analysis. Secondly, the authors developed the Qualitative Analysis Teaching Package to help students learn qualitative analysis by facilitating their understanding of the sub-microscopic and symbolic level explanations of the macroscopic level experiences of the procedures and reactions involved, as well as the manipulative, observational and inferential skills and thinking processes required. The diagnostic instrument and teaching package are especially important with the imminent change from the current one-off national practical examination to school-based assessment in 2008 with the focus on manipulative, observational, analytical and planning skills.

Learning Chemistry Performatively: Epistemological and Pedagogical Bases of Design-for-Learning with Computer and Video Games

Typical textbooks in chemistry present the field as a fait accompli represented by a body of “proven” facts. In the teaching and learning of chemistry, students have little, if any, agency to engage in scientific inquiry and to construct their personal understanding of the field. An emphasis on predetermined “knowledge” and the execution of laboratory experiments designed mainly to confirm predetermined “findings” can lead students to a grave misunderstanding of the nature of science. In this chapter, we argue that the learning of chemistry must be engaged in performatively if it is to be authentic. Using the multiplayer chemistry game “Legends of Alkhimia” as a context, we articulate the epistemological and pedagogical bases for the design of a game-based learning curriculum to help students imbibe the thinking, values, and dispositions of professional chemists. Drawing on Bourdieu’s construct of habitus, we seek to foster students’ capacity for practical reason as they become themselves via engagement in the scientific and inquiry-oriented practice of doing chemistry, rather than just learning about it. We explain how our design-for-learning seeks to develop epistemic reflexivity and professional identity, in relation to professional chemists, through performance, play, and dialog.

Issues and Challenges in Science Education Research

Rapid advances in science and technology and continuous changes in the world greatly impact the lives of children and youths and, hence, their ways of experiencing and interacting phenomena in the world and people around them. These changes challenge science educators to rethink the epistemology and pedagogy in science classrooms today as the practice of science education needs to be proactive and relevant to students in their everyday world and prepare them for life in the present and in the future.

Kinetics of acid reactions: making sense of associated concepts

In chemical kinetics, in addition to the concepts related to kinetics, stoichiometry, chemical equilibrium and the characteristics of the reactants are often involved when comparing the rates of different reactions, making such comparisons very challenging for students at all levels, as well as for pre-service science teachers. Consequently, four multiple-choice items were developed to determine the understanding of 217 pre-service science teachers of the kinetics of acid reactions that are taught at the Grade 9 to 10 levels in Singapore schools. Each of four items compared two different acid reactions under similar conditions, and respondents were required to select the best graphical representation for the two reactions. Respondents were also required to provide reasons to explain their particular selection for each item. In addition, one item on the dissociation of sulfuric acid and two items involving excess/limiting reagents were also included to provide additional data on the pre-service teachers’ understanding of these concepts that were assessed in the four items on kinetics of acid reactions. The results showed that the pre-service teachers had difficulties in explaining the properties of different common acids, including the dissociation of the acids and how these affect the rates of the different acid reactions. This study highlights the importance of determining pre-service teachers’ understanding of the concepts that they will be teaching with a view to addressing areas of difficulty, as these will have consequences on their future students’ learning.

Singapore Science Education

Singapore is a small country with a total land area of about 716 km2 and a population of about 5.4 million, comprising 3.8 million citizens and permanent residents and 1.5 million foreigners. Apart from her deepwater harbour, the only other natural resource that Singapore has is her people, so the education and development of the people is crucial to the prosperity and progress of the country. Thus the education system in Singapore aims to help the young to discover and develop their talents and potential to the fullest, and cultivate a passion for lifelong learning. To achieve these aims, the educational system is becoming more flexible, diverse and broad-based, and these characteristics are also reflected in the teaching and learning of science in Singapore. The science curriculum, from the primary to high school levels, is centred on science as inquiry and focusses on the knowledge, skills and processes, ethics and attitudes required in the practice of science, as well as the understanding of the impact of science in daily life, society and environment. It seeks to cultivate the scientific literacy, competencies and values necessary for the young to take on challenges, present and future, and thrive in a fast changing world.

Multimodality in Problem Solving

This chapter aims to take a multimodal perspective to understand how a pair of first year science undergraduate students solves an organic chemistry tutorial problem on addition reaction. Using interaction analysis to study the video recording of the students’ interactions during the problem-solving session, students were found to rely on their gestures, speech, and inscriptions to work out a solution that was contingent on previously revealed information. Students’ interactions also demonstrated their limited understanding of addition reaction mechanism as they could only work out the structure of the intermediate product but were unable to describe the reaction pathway. These findings suggest a need for word-centered evaluative activities to be complemented with alternative assessment methods to provide students with opportunities to engage with a variety of representational resources so as to enhance their ability to construct and communicate scientific knowledge.