ERIC Number: EJ1167024
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Oct
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1756-1108
EISSN: N/A
Representations of Chemical Bonding Models in School Textbooks--Help or Hindrance for Understanding?
Bergqvist, Anna; Drechsler, Michal; De Jong, Onno; Rundgren, Shu-Nu Chang
Chemistry Education Research and Practice, v14 n4 p589-606 Oct 2013
Models play an important and central role in science as well as in science education. Chemical bonding is one of the most important topics in upper secondary school chemistry, and this topic is dominated by the use of models. In the past decade, research has shown that chemical bonding is a topic that students find difficult, and therefore, a wide range of alternative conceptions are developed by students. This study focuses on analyzing the models of chemical bonding in chemistry textbooks at upper secondary level and aims to investigate the content of chemical bonding presented in chemistry textbooks related to students' alternative conceptions and difficulties in understanding. Chapters concerning chemical bonding in five chemistry textbooks at upper secondary level in Sweden were analyzed. The results showed that the models of chemical bonding represented in the school textbooks might cause students to have alternative conceptions and difficulties in understanding chemical bonding, which matched the findings found by other recent studies. Thereby, the results indicate a need for filling in the gap between research and textbook writers. Implications for textbook authors and teachers are addressed.
Descriptors: Textbook Content, Textbook Research, Content Analysis, Molecular Structure, Secondary School Science, Models, Difficulty Level, Relevance (Education), Foreign Countries
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 - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A