Linking the Macroscopic and Sub-microscopic Levels: Diagrams

Incorporating digital technologies into science classes: Two case studies from the field

“…The use of such representations, in particular the simulations, promoted the students' ability to visualise chemical phenomena and processes. These outcomes suggest that digital technologies can assist students to address the problems identified in the literature (e.g., Davidowitz & Chittleborough, 2009;Gabel, 1999;Treagust et al, 2000) such as the difficulties experienced by chemistry students in understanding underlying causes of chemical phenomena observed and making links between their observations and the symbols and diagrams used to explain and represent them.…”

“…The predominance of abstract symbolic representations as a means of explaining chemistry concepts to students has been identified as a key factor in the challenges faced by students in understanding chemistry (Davidowitz & Chittleborough, 2009;Gabel, 1999). According to Wu et al (2001), students' learning and thinking rely on sensory information.…”

“…Teachers tend to move between levels of representation without being aware that they have done so, while at the same time, many students cannot do this (Gabel, 1999). This results in an imperative for teachers: Because molecular-level behaviour is invisible and symbolic representations are abstract, teachers must emphasise the links between the three representational levels explicitly (Davidowitz & Chittleborough, 2009). In addition, students must be familiar with multiple representations, to understand the inherent meaning in them, and to understand how they relate to one another.…”

Development of multiple choice pictorial test for measuring the dimensions of knowledge

“…Educators should not only use various representations in classroom teaching, but also have to design an assessment to improve students' understanding on the various levels of representation that is commonly used in chemistry learning [4]. In other words, in addition to learning, visual representations in the form of the test is also important to do.…”

Untitled

“…Research on learners of chemistry has shown that being a micromacro thinker is perceived as difficult and abstract and, therefore, learning chemistry is believed to be meaningless (Correia & Torres, 2007;Tien, Teichert, & Rickey, 2007;Van Berkel, Pilot, & Bulte, 2009). Students struggle when it comes to connecting the three levels of understanding in chemistry (macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic) to produce a comprehensive picture of chemical phenomena Davidowitz & Chittleborough, 2009;). For instance, students might know how to balance chemical equations correctly.…”