An Analysis of Misconceptions Covered in the 12th Grade Chemistry Textbooks of Redox and Electrochemistry

Abstract

Despite its important role in science education as major reference supporting teaching and learning activities at schools, there have not been many researches focusing on investigating the quality of science textbook content. Science subjects, such as chemistry, are way more susceptible to errors because the need of more analysis and deduction activities rather than mere information gathering. This present, descriptive study examined the presence of misconceptions in the 12th grade chemistry textbooks on Redox and Electrochemistry. Each textbook was examined page by page based on document analysis method. The research samples consist of 2 textbooks obtained through purposive sampling. The founded misconceptions divided into 5 categories: oversimplifications, overgeneralizations, obsolete concepts and terms, misidentifications, and flawed research. The results showed that there are 13 misconceptions found in textbooks, namely: 7.7% oversimplifications, 30. 8% overgeneralization and 61.5% misidentifications. Based on the analysis, misidentifications are the most common misconceptions found both in book A and book B. These findings may provide a platform to improve the quality of textbooks preparation in particular and education in general.