The influence of web‐based chemistry learning on students' perceptions, attitudes, and achievements

The goal of this study was to investigate whether integrating a website into chemistry teaching influences 10th‐grade students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment, their attitudes regarding the relevance of chemistry, and their understanding of the concept of chemical bonding. Two groups participated in this study: an experimental group and a comparison group. The main study was conducted during the academic year 2005. The teachers in the experimental group were asked to implement four relevant activities from the website that was developed, all dealing with the concept of chemical bonding. Quantitative tools of the study included: A Chemistry Classroom Web‐Based Learning Environment Inventory to assess students' perceptions regarding the relevance of chemistry to their life and attitude towards chemistry studies, a feedback questionnaire that examined the students' response after performing the website activities, and an achievement test that assessed their knowledge and understanding of the concept of chemical bonding. We found that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group significantly in most of the research categories. This led us to conclude that the web‐based learning environment has potential to enhance the comprehension of chemistry concepts, students' attitudes and interests and to increase students' awareness regarding the relevant aspects of chemistry to daily life.

[1]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  Student and teacher perceptions of industrial chemistry case studies , 1997 .

[2]  J. S. Hutchinson,et al.  The Significance of Accurate Student Self-Assessment in Understanding of Chemical Concepts , 2002 .

[3]  Joseph Krajcik,et al.  The Nature of Middle School Learners' Science Content Understandings with the Use of On-line Resources , 2003 .

[4]  Mable B. Kinzie,et al.  Frog dissection via the world-wide web: Implications for widespread delivery of instruction , 1996 .

[5]  Eugene P. Wagner,et al.  Customized Internet Assessments: Evaluating Another Dimension of Web Technology. , 2001 .

[6]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  IMPLEMENTING THE INTERNET LEARNING ENVIRONMENT INTO THE CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM IN HIGH SCHOOLS IN ISRAEL , 2003 .

[7]  Roy D. Pea,et al.  Using the World Wide Web to Build Learning Communities in K‐12 , 2006 .

[8]  Judith Bennett,et al.  Context-Based Approaches to the Teaching of Chemistry: What are They and What Are Their Effects? , 2002 .

[9]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  Student Perceptions of Industrial Chemistry Classroom Learning Environments , 1999 .

[10]  Albert Pilot,et al.  The Use of “Contexts” as a Challenge for the Chemistry Curriculum: Its successes and the need for further development and understanding , 2006 .

[11]  A. Truman Schwartz,et al.  Chemistry in context : applying chemistry to society , 1997 .

[12]  Michael F. Graves,et al.  Using the Internet to Enhance Students' Reading, Writing, and Information-Gathering Skills. , 1997 .

[13]  Benjamin S. Bloom,et al.  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. , 1957 .

[14]  Ian Forsyth,et al.  Teaching and Learning Materials and the Internet , 1998 .

[15]  Jesús Vázquez-Abad.  “Hebdo-Chim,” a Web Application to Support Learning in a Chemistry Methods Pre-Service Course , 1999 .

[16]  Robin Millar,et al.  Students' reasoning about chemical reactions: what changes occur during a context-based post-16 chemistry course? , 1999 .

[17]  David Yaron,et al.  Using Simulations to Transform the Nature of Chemistry Homework , 2000 .

[18]  Anthony Carpi.  Improvements in Undergraduate Science Education Using Web-Based Instructional Modules: The Natural Science Pages , 2001 .

[19]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry: Making chemistry studies more relevant , 2006 .

[20]  Rafi Nachmias,et al.  Current State of Web Sites in Science Education—Focus on Atomic Structure , 2001 .

[21]  Annemarie S. Palincsar,et al.  Motivating Project-Based Learning: Sustaining the Doing, Supporting the Learning , 1991 .

[22]  Michael J. Sanger,et al.  Using Computer-Based Visualization Strategies to Improve Students' Understanding of Molecular Polarity and Miscibility , 2001 .

[23]  D. Ardaç,et al.  Effectiveness of multimedia-based instruction that emphasizes molecular representations on students' understanding of chemical change , 2004 .

[24]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  The importance of involving high‐school chemistry teachers in the process of defining the operational meaning of ‘chemical literacy’ , 2005 .