Students' application of chemical concepts when solving chemistry problems in different contexts

Context-based learning approaches have been implemented in school science over the last 40 years as a way to enhance students' interest in, as well as learning outcomes from, science. Contexts are used to connect science with the students' lives and to provide a frame in which concepts can be learned and applied on a ‘need-to-know’-principle. While effects on interest are coherently reported as positive, they are more diverse regarding cognitive learning outcomes. Hence, the demand for further research on criteria of context-based problems and problem-solving processes has been stated. In this paper, a study is presented investigating students' application of chemical concepts when solving context-based chemistry problems. Tasks for context-based problem solving have been designed systematically, using different combinations of contexts, topics and chemistry concepts in relation to the syllabus. Empirical data were collected using think-aloud interviews where 20 upper secondary students used their chemical content knowledge to solve the problems. The 15 context-based problems raised challenges within organic chemistry where concepts like electronegativity, polarity and solubility had to be applied. The difficulty to differentiate between intra- and intermolecular bonding emphasised in earlier research has also been apparent in this study. Besides the structural formula, which was an important part for the students when solving the tasks, the contextualisation of the problems was often used in the responses; students related their answers to the personal, societal or professional context in different ways. The paper explores the results and gives implications for context-based teaching, learning and assessment.

[1]  Uri Zoller,et al.  Algorithmic, LOCS and HOCS (chemistry) exam questions: Performance and attitudes of college students , 2002 .

[2]  G. Aikenhead,et al.  BOOK REVIEW , 2008 .

[3]  J. Anderson,et al.  How Do Organic Chemistry Students Understand and Apply Hydrogen Bonding , 2001 .

[4]  David K. Smith.  From crazy chemists to engaged learners through education. , 2011, Nature chemistry.

[5]  Ingo Eilks,et al.  Learning chemistry and beyond with a lesson plan on potato crisps, which follows a socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to chemistry lessons – a case study , 2008 .

[6]  David Waddington,et al.  Making it relevant : context based learning of science , 2005 .

[7]  UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CHOICE AND THEIR IDEAS ON HOW TO IMPROVE CHEMISTRY EDUCATION , 2015 .

[8]  K. Taber,et al.  Developing an Understanding of Chemistry: A case study of one Swedish student's rich conceptualisation for making sense of upper secondary school chemistry , 2014 .

[9]  Donna King.  New perspectives on context-based chemistry education: using a dialectical sociocultural approach to view teaching and learning , 2012 .

[10]  Onno De Jong,et al.  Representations of chemical bonding models in school textbooks – help or hindrance for understanding? , 2013 .

[11]  Judith M. Ramsden.  How does a context‐based approach influence understanding of key chemical ideas at 16+? , 1997 .

[12]  John K. Gilbert,et al.  Concept Development and Transfer in Context‐Based Science Education , 2011 .

[13]  J. Krajcik,et al.  Developing a new teaching approach for the chemical bonding concept aligned with current scientific and pedagogical knowledge , 2007 .

[14]  Troy D. Sadler,et al.  Scientific literacy, PISA, and socioscientific discourse: Assessment for progressive aims of science education , 2009 .

[15]  Barbara A. Sawrey.  Concept learning versus problem solving: Revisited , 1990 .

[16]  J. Gilbert.  On the Nature of “Context” in Chemical Education , 2006 .

[17]  J. Gilbert.  Chemical education: towards research-based practice , 2003 .

[18]  George M. Bodner,et al.  Mental Models : The Role of Representations in Problem Solving in Chemistry PROCEEDINGS , 2002 .

[19]  Han Cai,et al.  On the Nature of Context , 2004 .

[20]  Tami Levy Nahum,et al.  A New "Bottom-Up" Framework for Teaching Chemical Bonding , 2008 .

[21]  Bert van Oers,et al.  From context to contextualizing , 1998 .

[22]  Donna King,et al.  Academic Success in Context-Based Chemistry: Demonstrating fluid transitions between concepts and context , 2013 .

[23]  John R. Hayes,et al.  The complete problem solver, 2nd ed. , 1989 .

[24]  P. Wickman,et al.  Students' Choice of Post-Compulsory Science: In search of schools that compensate for the socio-economic background of their students , 2013 .

[25]  Peter Nentwig,et al.  “Chemie im Kontext”: A symbiotic implementation of a context‐based teaching and learning approach , 2006 .

[26]  Albert Pilot,et al.  Approach to Designing Chemistry Education using Authentic Practices as Contexts , 2013 .

[27]  Ingo Eilks,et al.  Research-based development of a lesson plan on shower gels and musk fragrances following a socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to chemistry teaching , 2010 .

[28]  Sascha Bernholt,et al.  Assessing the complexity of students' knowledge in chemistry , 2011 .

[29]  Helge Strömdahl,et al.  Science for all or science for some: What Swedish students want to learn about in secondary science and technology and their opinions on science lessons , 2012 .

[30]  Anat Zohar,et al.  Higher Order Thinking in Science Classrooms: Students' Learning and Teachers' Professional Development , 2012 .

[31]  Katerina Salta,et al.  Conceptual Versus Algorithmic Problem-solving: Focusing on Problems Dealing with Conservation of Matter in Chemistry , 2011 .

[32]  Developing Chemical Understanding in the Explanatory Vacuum: Swedish High School Students’ Use of an Anthropomorphic Conceptual Framework to Make Sense of Chemical Phenomena , 2013 .

[33]  A. Zohar,et al.  Higher Order Thinking Skills and Low-Achieving Students: Are They Mutually Exclusive? , 2003 .

[34]  B. Ngu,et al.  Fostering Analogical Transfer: The Multiple Components Approach to Algebra Word Problem Solving in a Chemistry Context. , 2012 .

[35]  Ilka Parchmann,et al.  Results of an interview study as basis for the development of stepped supporting tools for stoichiometric problems , 2007 .

[36]  Yehudit Judy Dori,et al.  Teaching biotechnology through case studies - can we improve higher order thinking skills of nonscience majors? , 2003 .

[37]  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 .

[38]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  Teaching and learning the concept of chemical bonding , 2010 .

[39]  Gita Taasoobshirazi,et al.  A review and critique of context-based physics instruction and assessment , 2008 .

[40]  Sabine Fechner.  Effects of context oriented learning on student interest and achievement in chemistry education , 2009 .

[41]  G. Bodner,et al.  COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING AS AN EARLY STAGE IN PROBLEM SOLVING , 1986 .

[42]  Uri Zoller,et al.  Matching Higher-Order Cognitive Skills (HOCS) promotion goals with problem-based laboratory practice in a freshman organic chemistry course , 2007 .

[43]  Christine Chin,et al.  Student-generated questions: A meaningful aspect of learning in science , 2002 .

[44]  K. Taber,et al.  LEARNERS’ EXPLANATIONS FOR CHEMICAL PHENOMENA , 2000 .

[45]  Rodger W. Bybee,et al.  PISA 2006: An Assessment of Scientific Literacy. , 2009 .

[46]  Karolina Broman,et al.  Chemistry in crisis? Perspectives on teaching and learning chemistry in Swedish upper secondary schools , 2012 .

[47]  M. Brekelmans,et al.  Textbook Questions in Context-Based and Traditional Chemistry Curricula Analysed from a Content Perspective and a Learning Activities Perspective , 2013 .

[48]  Jesper Sjöström,et al.  Chemistry in context : analysis of thematic chemistry videos available online , 2014 .

[49]  Jesper Sjöström.  Towards Bildung-Oriented Chemistry Education , 2013 .

[50]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  SOCIETAL ISSUES AND THEIR IMPORTANCE FOR CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION—A PEDAGOGICAL JUSTIFICATION AND THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN ISRAEL, GERMANY, AND THE USA , 2011 .

[51]  George M. Bodner,et al.  Non-mathematical problem solving in organic chemistry , 2009 .

[52]  Peter Nentwig,et al.  Chemie im Kontext: Situating Learning in Relevant Contexts while Systematically Developing Basic Chemical Concepts , 2007 .

[53]  Mare Taagepera,et al.  Mapping Students' Thinking Patterns in Learning Organic Chemistry by the Use of Knowledge Space Theory , 2000 .

[54]  Vicente A Talanquer,et al.  Rethinking chemistry: a learning progression on chemical thinking , 2014 .

[55]  Mary B. Nakhleh,et al.  Concept learning versus problem solving: There is a difference , 1993 .

[56]  Rolf Langeheine,et al.  A typology of students’ interest in physics and the distribution of gender and age within each type , 1998 .

[57]  Judith Bennett,et al.  Bringing science to life: A synthesis of the research evidence on the effects of context‐based and STS approaches to science teaching , 2007 .

[58]  Douglas A. Roberts,et al.  Scientific Literacy/Science Literacy , 2013 .