Development of an instrument to evaluate high school students' chemical symbol representation abilities

Abstract

Chemical symbol representation is a medium for transformations between the actual phenomena of the macroscopic world and those of the sub-microscopic world. The aim of this study is to develop an instrument to evaluate high school students' chemical symbol representation abilities (CSRA). Based on the current literature, we defined CSRA and constructed a four-level measurement framework validated by expert review. After that, an initial measurement instrument was developed based on the framework. Then, 52 students of Grade 10 and 56 students of Grade 11 were selected from school A to participate in the first round of testing. During the data analysis, Rasch measurement was used to investigate and improve the quality of the instrument. After that, 55 Grade 10 students and 57 Grade 11 students from school B participated in the second-round of testing, and the Rasch analysis results demonstrated good reliability and validity of measures based on the CSRA framework.

Instruments in Identifying Representational Competence in Chemistry: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Based on the results of the review that has been carried out, the instrument used in identifying representational competence can be said to be effective in its use, if the instrument can examine how students are able to translate one representation into another. The results of the instrument can provide information on how students move from one representation to another and the extent to which individuals can interpret and translate the given representation using other representations (Chi et al, 2018;Gkitzia et al, 2019;Irby et al, 2016;Sim et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2017;(Hilton & Nichols, 2011).…”

“…shows that identifying representational competence can be connected to the aspects used to measure how deep students have representational competence, both in terms of translating between different representations, translating between the same representations, using representations to produce explanations, or connecting representations with representations (Kozma & Russell, 2005). The use of the aspects assessed in the instrument can determine how far and at what level the students' representational competence are (Chi et al, 2018;Gkitzia et al, 2019;Irby et al, 2016;Sim et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2017). If students are able to reach the highest level, then it shows that students' representational competence are high.…”

Enhancing Students’ High-Order Cognitive Skills for Hierarchical Designs in Micro and Symbolic Particulate Nature of Matter

“…The requirements to establish students' cognitive skills were observed in several innovative research studies for extensive conceptualized understanding in particulate nature of matter (PNM, Özmen, 2013). Students' encountering cognitive development has expected a cohesive and potential participation in the hierarchical design of micro and symbolic performances (Wang et al, 2017). Taber (2013) argued that the objective of chemistry knowledge should not be limited to purely symbolic knowledge or micro representations as a discrete knowledge level.…”

The macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic level in explanations of a chemical reaction provided by thirteen-year olds

“…9,[11][12][13][14][15] A chemical equation, as one of the key models in chemistry, serves to explain, quantitatively and qualitatively describe a chemical reaction, linking the macroscopic and the submicroscopic level of a chemical reaction. 16 Researches suggest that the understanding of secondary school pupils and college students is predominantly in the realm of the symbolic, 1,[17][18][19] which may be due to the abstract nature of the particulate structure of a substance 20 , and consequently the inadequate mental models of students. 21 The ability to present a chemical reaction at the symbolic level does not guarantee the ability to understand a reaction at the level of particles.…”