engleski

STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASIC CHEMICAL CONCEPTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL IN CROATIA

In this work we describe the pilot investigation of the influence of CNES (in Croatian HNOS)implementation on the process of learning and teaching chemistry in primary schools. 367 students of the 8th grade (age 14) from 11 schools and 16 classes from all parts of Croatia participated in the study, together with 160 undergraduate students enrolled in the General Chemistry course in 2007 at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. The test consisted of different types question (traditional question appeared immediately before the concept question). The aims of this study were: (1) pilot study of the students' understanding of the basic chemical concepts (physical and chemical changes, element, compound, mixture and atomic structure), (2) detailed study of the students' understanding of the concepts of the solubility-solution and reaction equation, (3) identification of students' misconceptions of the preliminary concepts, (4) suggestion of teaching strategies to induce conceptual change, through the workshops for chemistry teachers, and for improvement of chemistry textbooks in Croatian primary schools.

chemical concepts; reaction equation; solubility-solution

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