An analysis of the visual representation of redox reactions and related content in Brazilian secondary school chemistry textbooks

A Review of Research on the Quality and Use of Chemistry Textbooks

“…We also captured the theoretical and/or analytical frameworks that were used to analyze chemistry textbooks or design studies around chemistry textbooks . Several frameworks were used in multiple studies that employed theoretical frameworks: Johnstone’s Triangle, ,,,,,,,,, Cognitive Load Theory, ,, Bloom’s Taxonomy, ,, Mayer’s Multimedia Principles, , Ainsworth’s Design, Functions, Tasks (DeFT) Framework, , Robert’s Curriculum Emphases, , and the Framework on Scientific Literacy. , We identified multiple other frameworks that were each used in a single study on chemistry textbooks (e.g., the Information Processing Model, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Kozma and Russel’s Representational Competence, Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning, Han and Roth’s Semiotic Model, Vermunt and Verloop’s Taxonomy of Learning Activities, Wu and Shah’s Five Principles of Textual Diagrams, Constructivism, the Analogy Classification Framework, Bunge’s Five Ontological Categories, Ausubel and Novak’s Meaningful Learning, and others). Importantly, about half of the articles ( n = 39, 49%) did not use any theoretical/analytical frameworks to guide the design of their studies and the interpretation of their findings.…”

“…Studies categorized types of representations based on their function. For example, some studies categorized representations as decorative (does not contribute meaning to text), representational (aids or adds concreteness to text), organizational (summarizes or adds coherence to text), or interpretive (adds new information not presented in the text). , It was found that U.S. general chemistry textbooks contain mostly representations that serve a representational function (79–90% of representations), with only some that serve a decorative purpose (5–14%), whereas more than 55% of the images in secondary chemistry textbooks used in Brazil serve a decorative purpose . Some studies investigated the level of representations via the lens of Johnstone’s triangle by characterizing representations as symbolic, macroscopic, submicroscopic, multiple (show a chemical phenomenon simultaneously at 2–3 levels), hybrid (show how the levels of chemistry coexist to form one representation), and mixed (combine chemistry level and characteristics of another type of representation).…”

“…Some studies investigated the level of representations via the lens of Johnstone’s triangle by characterizing representations as symbolic, macroscopic, submicroscopic, multiple (show a chemical phenomenon simultaneously at 2–3 levels), hybrid (show how the levels of chemistry coexist to form one representation), and mixed (combine chemistry level and characteristics of another type of representation). Macroscopic representations are most prevalent in Lebanese, Chinese, and Brazilian secondary chemistry textbooks, ,,,, whereas symbolic representations are most common in Turkish, Indian, and American secondary textbooks. , One study found that macroscopic representations increase in frequency as the grade level increases in Greek secondary textbooks . Additionally, Lebanese and Greek secondary chemistry textbooks and U.S. physical chemistry textbooks use very few multiple, hybrid, and mixed representations. ,, However, when incorporated, the multiple, hybrid, and mixed representations generally lack sufficient connections between the various levels of chemistry.…”

Análise de inscrições em livros didáticos de Química

“…O desenvolvimento do conhecimento químico deve levar em consideração os três níveis propostos, e, assim, o conjunto de inscrições utilizadas para abordar determinado conceito ou conteúdo químico precisa integrar os três níveis e, dessa forma, facilitar o entendimento e aprendizado da Química (Goes et al, 2020;Upahi e Ramnarain, 2019).…”

The Development of Structured Inquiry Based Module on Chemistry Learning: Its Impact on Students’ Mental Models

“…The representations consist of macroscopic (concrete), submicroscopic (illustrated by models related to the structure of the atom, molecule, and ion), and symbolic (symbols, formulas, stoichiometry reaction, graphs, etc), which are fruitful in understanding and chemistry instructions [7]. Most textbooks used in the learning process have not connected the three levels of representation as a whole [7], [8], [9].…”