The Courseware of Discontinuous Nature of Matter in Teaching the States of Matter and Their Changes

Abstract

Among three levels of chemical representation, the sub-microscopic level is the most difficult to learn by students. To solve the problem, it is assumed that the concept of the discontinuous nature of matter or particle concept should be mastered initially by students before they learn sub-microscopic representations of further chemical phenomena. 131 junior high school students from two schools participated in this study. The study was carried out by implementing structureoriented chemistry teaching on the particle concept that was assisted by the courseware and was continued by teaching the changing state of matter. The research instruments were written tests, questionnaire, observation sheet and interview guideline. Research data were collected before and after the use of the courseware, as well as before and after the teaching of the changing states of matter. The results show that the use of the courseware increases students' understanding of the particle concept for both male and female groups. Meanwhile, particle concept only affects the students' understanding of sub-microscopic representations of the changing states of matter in general and based on gender.

Prospective Primary School Teachers’ Conception Change on States of Matter and Their Changes through Predict-Observe-Explain Strategy

“…The prerequisite concepts for states of matter and their changes on discontinuity of matter and dynamic property of particles will help the prospective teachers to comprehend the topic. This is in line with previous research (Sopandi et al, 2018) indicating that students' good comprehension of discontinuity of matter can help them to understand the states of matter and their changes at the submicroscopic level. It is expected that by understanding the discontinuity of matter and the dynamic properties of particles, prospective teachers can apply that understanding to various concepts and other related representations.…”

“…The results of this study showed that there were still misconceptions about states of matter and their changes. This finding is in line with previous findings that showed' Nature of Particle Substance' is one of the concepts in which learners have the most alternative concepts (Bilgin et al, 2017;Sopandi, 2017b;Sopandi et al, 2018). Correspondingly, conception change is not an easy task and misconceptions are difficult to correct (Barke et al, 2009;Suparno, 2013: 7;Setyaningrum, 2016).…”

“…In addition, the teachers should pay attention to the submicroscopic level (verbal and visual) since it could serve as a bridge between the macroscopic level and the symbolic level. To help introducing this level, a media like computer (Sopandi et al, 2018) is needed to help the prospective teachers understand submicroscopic level. Hence, the use of learning technology in the course is very necessary.…”

The Effect of Conceptual Change Text on Pre-Service Teachers’ Understanding of Heat Conduction

“…Although the microscopic level or particle nature of matter is a heart to learn science concepts to the next level of understanding science [22]. Besides the heart of science, microscopic level also helps students to give a comprehensive understanding of the scientific phenomena [20,23,24]. This problem is not only happening in students at the pre-service teacher but also the teachers [25].…”

“…Whereas, drawing is a useful approach to probe understanding in students learning and enables the researcher to reveal the student's and teacher's qualities of understanding that can be hidden through other research procedures [19]. Teaching science should give change for students to represent their understanding not only verbally but also visually [20]. The drawing also involves conceptual knowledge that serves as a way of capturing students' thinking, understanding, and shift [21].…”