Probing high school students' cognitive structures and key areas of learning difficulties on ethanoic acid using the flow map method

Abstract

The purpose of this study was primarily to explore high school students' cognitive structures and to identify their learning difficulties on ethanoic acid through the flow map method. The subjects of this study were 30 grade 1 students from Dong Yuan Road Senior High School in Xi'an, China. The interviews were conducted a week after the students had received instruction on ethanoic acid. The interview narratives were then transcribed into flow maps. Analysis of the flow maps showed that there existed a difference between the individual students' cognitive structure on ethanoic acid, higher academic achievers constructed more enriched cognitive structures and had higher scores for cognitive structural variables than lower academic achievers. Furthermore, the results of the correlation analysis of the students' cognitive structure outcomes, academic achievement and the information processing modes revealed that there was a positive correlation between two of them to some extent; in general, the higher academic achievers tended to have higher cognitive structure outcomes and employed high-order information processing modes. Analysis of the content of the flow maps of all the participants indicated that most of the students knew the main facts about ethanoic acid, but the details were not complete, and the misconceptions were mainly related to the molecular constitution and structure of ethanoic acid as well as to the esterification reaction, while the knowledge of the physical properties and the acidity of ethanoic acid seemed to have been mastered relatively well, as for the applications of ethanoic acid, students only mentioned that it can be used as condiment.

Pesquisa Bibliográfica: As Reações De Oxirredução De Acordo Com Os Modelos Mentais

“…O Quadro 8 mostra os trabalhos presentes em cada um dos quatro Níveis estabelecidos. 04,05,06,07,09,13,14,15,17,18,19,21,22,23,24,26,27,28,30,32,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,42,43,44,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54 Conforme já mencionado, no decorrer da análise destes quatro Níveis, categorias e subcategorias emergentes foram elaboradas, desconsiderando-se aquelas formadas por apenas um artigo. Salienta-se ainda que, pelo fato de todas as cinquenta e seis publicações abordarem os modelos mentais e as reações de oxirredução, mesmo que de forma simplória e desconexa, algumas categorias e/ou subcategorias constam em mais de um Nível e que um mesmo artigo pode estar presente em mais de uma categoria e/ou subcategoria (desde que em um mesmo Nível).…”

“…O Quadro 9 traz as quatro categorias elaboradas para este primeiro Nível, bem como suas respectivas subcategorias. 03,06,07,14,19,21,26,27,28,35,36,37,38,43,44,51,53 03, 14, 15, 19, 22, 34, 40, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52 e 55 4. Exemplificação - 03, 04, 05, 07, 09, 13, 18, 24, 26, 27, 30, 34, 37, 39, 42, 43, 46, 51 e 53 Percebe-se, no entanto, que nem todos os artigos fazem parte das categorias 1 e 2 -reações de oxirredução e modelos mentais -pois poderão estar presentes nas demais categorias criadas, seja por meio de uma exemplificação ou pertencentes a outras pesquisas citadas nos textos, por exemplo.…”

“…Categoria 03 -Outras pesquisas: Esta categoria apresenta os artigos 03,14,15,19,22,34,40,46,47,49,50, 52 e 55, os quais possuem as palavras-chave relacionadas aos modelos mentais ou às reações químicas de oxirredução, porém mencionadas a partir de outras pesquisas, sem nenhum aprofundamento teórico envolvendo os assuntos citados.…”

Development and Use of a Flowchart as a Scaffolding Tool for Isomeric Relationships in Organic Chemistry

“…Organic chemistry is regarded as one of the most difficult areas of chemistry to learn by students at almost all educational levels. − Students attribute this difficulty to the existence of too many compounds, functional groups, and complex reaction mechanisms to be memorized. − It is true that there are millions of compounds in organic chemistry. However, for the undergraduate level, there are approximately 20 different functional groups, a limited number of reaction types (i.e., substitution, addition, elimination, and rearrangement), and two basic reaction mechanisms (ionic and radical) in terms of bond breaking and formation (heterolytic vs homolytic).…”