Saša A. Glažar

Survey of Research Related To the Development of the Concept of "Matter.".

This paper presents a survey and analysis of research related to the development of concepts of matter. It is proposed that the clarity with which pupils understand the distinction between matter and objects influences their explanations of composition and phenomena. A theoretical framework for the development of the concept of matter via ‘action’ in the sense of Piaget is given. This provides an explanation of how children develop the concept of matter and is used to discuss literature concerning childrens classification of matter, their explanations of the composition of matter, and their explanations of physical and chemical change. For a clearer distinction between the concepts of object and matter, the authors propose distinguishing early in schooling between intensive properties of matter and extensive properties of objects. A hypothesis in respect of the development of the concept of matter via ‘action’ in the sense of Piaget is given. The study also shows possible implications of the development ...

The Influence of 16‐year‐old Students’ Gender, Mental Abilities, and Motivation on their Reading and Drawing Submicrorepresentations Achievements

Submicrorepresentations (SMRs) are a powerful tool for identifying misconceptions of chemical concepts and for generating proper mental models of chemical phenomena in students’ long‐term memory during chemical education. The main purpose of the study was to determine which independent variables (gender, formal reasoning abilities, visualization abilities, and intrinsic motivation for learning chemistry) have the maximum influence on students’ reading and drawing SMRs. A total of 386 secondary school students (aged 16.3 years) participated in the study. The instruments used in the study were: test of Chemical Knowledge, Test of Logical Thinking, two tests of visualization abilities Patterns and Rotations, and questionnaire on Intrinsic Motivation for Learning Science. The results show moderate, but statistically significant correlations between students’ intrinsic motivation, formal reasoning abilities and chemical knowledge at submicroscopic level based on reading and drawing SMRs. Visualization abilities are not statistically significantly correlated with students’ success on items that comprise reading or drawing SMRs. It can be also concluded that there is a statistically significant difference between male and female students in solving problems that include reading or drawing SMRs. Based on these statistical results and content analysis of the sample problems, several educational strategies can be implemented for students to develop adequate mental models of chemical concepts on all three levels of representations.

Comparing Slovenian year 8 and year 9 elementary school pupils’ knowledge of electrolyte chemistry and their intrinsic motivation

This study explored the differences between eight-year elementary school pupils (before the curriculum reform) and nine-year elementary school pupils (soon after the curriculum reform) in Slovenia, as regards specific chemistry knowledge and motivation to learn chemistry. Altogether, 191 elementary school pupils participated in the study. The results show that pupils of nine-year elementary school are not significantly better at chemistry knowledge test scores than eight-year elementary school pupils. Similar results were obtained when comparing intrinsic motivation. The results also show that those students who exhibit a higher level of intrinsic motivation to learn chemistry do not perform better at the test as a whole, but the correlation is low, although statistically significant, between motivation and pupils’ performance at solving selected problems presented in this paper. Results show that students develop different misconceptions of selected chemical concepts. Based on the results of this study, some guidelines for teachers are suggested.

Design of an expert system for water pollution determination/prevention

Abstract An initial model of an expert system was designed to provide quick responses for Slovenian river water pollution emergency situations by: identifying selected pollutants; planning immediate action to cope with urgent hazardous situations; identifying actual pollution source(s); and providing advice to reduce and prevent pollution at the source. The model knowledge base is implemented on the Knowledge. Pro communication system and is derived from two relational databases using the Informix.Sql relational database management system.

Educational Models and Differences between Groups of 16-year-old Students in Gender, Motivation, and Achievements in Chemistry

The previous chapter is somehow continued to this chapter entitled “Educational models and differences between groups of 16-year-old students in gender, motivation and achievements in chemistry” by Devetak and Glažar who described other aspects of students’ characteristics using statistical analysis of numerous variables regarding triple nature of chemical concepts presentations. Students can be differentiated into groups during classroom activities also according to their abilities, academic achievements, and interests. On the basis of these classifications students can be engaged in specific learning tasks. Different models can be formed according to students’ academic achievements, motivation for a specific subject, gender, and also other variables that can influence classroom dynamics. Three predictive educational models developed by discriminant analysis are presented. This rather complicated statistical analysis can show that teachers should be aware that girls need more attention in chemistry learning than boys. Teachers should extrinsically motivate using macroscopic level of chemical concepts and put those concepts into the context for those students who are low achievers in physics and have low intrinsic motivation for learning chemistry.

Kemija u nastavi: Percepcije učenika o uporabi mrežno potpomognutih materijala za poučavanje osnovnih kemijskih pojmova

Strategije poučavanja u nastavi kemije trebaju voditi k razumijevanju kemijskih koncepata tako što će uključiti makroskopsku, submikroskopsku i simboličku razinu.1,2 Ideja o potrebi poučavanja kemijskih koncepata na te tri spoznajne razine potječe od Johnstonea iz 1982. godine.1 Makroskopska ili makrorazina predstavlja pojave koje se mogu uočiti promatranjem kemijske ili fizikalne promjene, primjerice: promjene boje, agregacijskog stanja, stvaranja ili otapanja taloga. Submikroskopska ili submikrorazina odnosi se na poučavanje uočenih procesa i pojava na razini atoma, molekula, iona, dok simbolička razina uključuje pisanje kemijskih simbola, formula i jednadžbi. Međuovisnost triju razina (makroskopske, submikroskopske i simboličke razine) razumijevanja prirodoslovnih koncepata nazvana je model STRP.3 Pri obradi određenoga koncepta ili pojave, sve tri razine povezuju vizualizacijske metode (slika 1). Vizualizacijske metode, odnosno metode predstavljanja u prirodoslovlju odnose se na metafore, analogije, modele ili teorijske konstrukte. Pravilno povezivanje svih triju razina prilikom poučavanja omogućava oblikovanje pravilnog mentalnog modela.2 Tako osoba izgrađuje mentalni model razumijevanja određenoga koncepta ili pojave.4 Slika 1 – STRP model3 Fig. 1 – STRP model3