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ERIC Number: EJ1457012
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1756-1108
Plurality and Identity: On the Educational Relations between Chemistry and Physics
Pedro J. Sánchez Gómez; Mauricio Suárez
Chemistry Education Research and Practice, v26 n1 p53-64 2025
We present an approach to the question of the educational relations between chemistry and physics based on the one hand, on an inferentialist account of scientific representation (Suárez M., (2024), "Inference and Representation. A Study in Modelling Science," Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press). On the other, we have drawn on the notion of science identities, as is currently used in science education. We argue that the representational practices of chemistry are the key competencies for the development of a chemistry identity. We extrapolate this conclusion to physics. The problem of representational plurality, that is, that some objects can be represented divergently in these sciences is thus linked to that of identity plurality, to the question of whether it is possible for a person to simultaneously hold a chemistry and a physics identity. We study the educational implications of this situation within the framework of Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural pedagogy to conclude that the difficulties inherent to representational plurality in chemistry and physics are sociological: university degrees are built around a single, well-defined, identity, thus tending to exclude any form of plurality that compromises this uniformity. As an application of these conclusions, we have studied the question of the introduction of the quantum description of molecules in chemistry education at an undergraduate level. We conclude that this introduction should not be based on the molecular orbitals approach but, instead, on the valence bond method.
Royal Society of Chemistry. Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44-1223 420066; Fax: +44-1223 423623; e-mail: cerp@rsc.org; Web site: http://www.rsc.org/cerp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A