Learners’ issues in the preparation and qualitative analysis of salts topics in chemistry: Teachers’ perspectives

Abstract

This study examines learners’ issues in learning the preparation and qualitative analysis of salts topic from Malaysian chemistry teachers’ perspectives. The researchers adopted a qualitative design and conducted semi-structured interviews with sixteen informants who have experience of teaching chemistry for more than five years. They were selected via purposive sampling. Document analysis was conducted to verify and supplement findings obtained from the interviews. The study reports five issues that emerged from the data analysis: negative perceptions, dealing with the number of information, imagining abstract concepts, mastery of basic knowledge and solving problems, and fulfilling the grading criteria. The study results confirm the unanimity of past studies on students’ unfavorable views on these topics and their struggle in learning abstract concepts involved in the salts formation and analysis. Besides, students’ issues are also significantly rooted in having weak prior knowledge of salts, affecting their ability to solve related problems. The study suggested that teachers must practice various approaches and strategies deemed effective in aiding learners in learning and be more selective in choosing approaches tailored to the individual students’ issues in learning these topics in class.

Development of chemistry questions integrated with religious values on acid-base topic

“…They are also used in some household products, such as food, beverages (soft drinks), fruits, and even in the body, where there is acid, such as hydrochloric acid in the stomach and ascorbic acid in the blood. Students already know a number of salts, for example, table salt; one way of making it is based on an acid-base reaction (Furkan & Salleh, 2023;Barke, 2023). Even rainwater can also contain acid, but rainwater containing acid can cause environmental damage; this event is called acid rain (Alfiandy et al, 2021).…”