Preparedness for tertiary chemistry: multiple applications of the Chemistry Competence Test for diagnostic and prediction purposes

Abstract

The development of the Chemistry Competence Test was prompted by the extensive curriculum changes in the South African school system after democracy was established in 1994. As chemists, we were concerned that there might be a lack of articulation between secondary and tertiary levels, since we anticipated that curriculum changes would have an impact on the knowledge base and skills development of prospective students. A diagnostic test developed initially to document proficiencies of first-time entering students to South African universities has proved to be a versatile instrument for multiple uses. Apart from monitoring levels of preparedness for tertiary chemistry during a period of systemic change, it has also been used to evaluate institutional placement policies, to identify specific conceptual problems and procedural deficiencies, and to measure conceptual gains over the course of the first year at university. In addition, its application for the prediction of risk of failure in first-year chemistry based on cognitive and non-cognitive variables was demonstrated. All these findings are valuable resources to inform lecturers who are concerned about minimizing the conceptual gap between secondary and tertiary chemistry.

Teaching of chemical bonding: a study of Swedish and South African students' conceptions of bonding

“…An in-depth study of a group of students at a specific Swedish upper secondary school understanding of matter and phase changes was published recently (Taber and Adbo, 2013). While some data has been collected about South African secondary students level of preparedness for tertiary studies (Potgieter and Davidowitz, 2011), there has been no in depth investigation of their ideas on chemical bonding. From these perspectives it would be especially fruitful for Swedish and South African chemistry teachers and researchers to obtain data regarding the frameworks of bonding held by their students.…”

Rasch Modeling: A Multiple Choice Chemistry Test

“…The quantitative approach was used. It was used because the instructor needed to ascertain and confirm what and how the assessment process is carried out so that it required a quantitative and in-depth interpretation of the research conducted (Potgieter & Davidowitz, 2011). The selected samples are 200 students of chemistry education department from semester 1 to semester 5.…”

“…Learning assessment is an important point that must be conducted by the teacher (Potgieter & Davidowitz, 2011). The assessment of learning provided contains a lot of essential information such as evaluating student learning progress, the extent of students' cognitive depth on learning that has been passed, and the accuracy of test instruments in measuring their mental models (Potgieter &. Davidowitz, 2011;Brannon et al, 2018).…”

“…Davidowitz, 2011;Brannon et al, 2018). The learning process that is assessed by the instructor without using assessment will be difficult to know cognitive development, behavior, depth of understanding, and the impact of the designed teaching (Potgieter &. Davidowitz, 2011).…”

Limitations of Teaching and Learning Redox: A Systematic Review

“…Regarding conceptual difficulties, the most documented obstacles in teaching and learning about redox reactions among the selected articles is related to understanding the electron transfer process. Acar and Tarhan (2007), Loh and Subramaniam (2018), Potgieter and Davidowitz (2011) and Rahayu et al (2011) reported cases where students believe that electrons can flow through aqueous solutions. Brandriet and Bretz (2014) stated that, although students are able to identify where electrons are transferred to, they cannot describe the particulate process underlying the symbolic equation.…”