Exploring students' chemistry concept in Trento National High School

• Main Author: Baldevieso, Nora A.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2005
• Subjects: Chemistry—Study and teaching (Secondary)—Philippines; Science and Mathematics Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6780
• Institution: De La Salle University

Chemistry plays a vital role in the different areas of life and the advancement of modern technology, so it must be regarded as a basic knowledge to be developed among students. The purpose of this study was to explore students’ conceptual understanding and alternative conception in chemistry using the two tier High School Chemistry Concept Inventory (HSCCI) and a structured interview. The inventory was administered to 41 junior special science class students of Trento National High School together. This was complimented with a structured interview to verify students’ responses. Results indicated that, the respondents have partial understanding with specific misconception on the different topics in General chemistry. The most prevalent misconceptions identified by HSCCI are (a) the level of water containing ice cubes will be higher when ice melts compared to the original level, (b)The copper wire will change its color when the bonds between atoms are heated, (c) oxygen is the gas present in the boiling water bubbles, (d) water outside the glass of cold milk was due to the coldness of milk that causes the hydrogen and oxygen to combine forming water, (e) particles of water disappear after evaporation and the breaking of oxygen bonds give off energy. These are fundamental concepts that many students are not constructed appropriate understanding and in effect, would lead them to encounter greater difficulty in understanding the more advance concept in chemistry. The results also served as an alert to teacher on students’ misconception so that they could plan better and implement more concept-based chemistry learning. This would be helpful to remedy students’ misconceptions and to promote learning of chemistry