Once again about scientific terms in initial chemistry courses: Three approaches to studying the concept of substance

Abstract

The paper discusses and explains the standpoint that, in initial chemistry courses, the general chemistry term substance should be studied from all three standpoints of science-macro-world (phenomenon), micro-world (structure), and symbolism (accepted symbolic representations in chemistry). Using this approach it is possible to explain visible properties of a substance by causal relations between particles that make it up, and record them by chemical symbols and formulas. Only so the resulting knowledge of a substance can be expected to be efficient and lasting. The acquisition of a basic knowledge of a substance from all these three scientific points of view was examined by a set of tasks of the objective type at the end of the first year of studying chemistry. Re-testing was conducted at the beginning of the second year. The results obtained by both tests justify the approach of studying the concept of substance from all three standpoints of chemistry science. The analysis of the obtained results provides data usable for contents selection and curricular plans for initial chemistry courses.

U radu se razmatra i obrazlaže stav da, na početku učenja hemije, opšti hemijski pojam supstanca može biti obrađivan sa sva tri gledišta nauke makrosveta (pojavno), mikrosveta (građa) i simbolike (usvojeno hemijsko obeležavanje). Ovakav pristup omogućava da vidljiva svojstva supstance budu objašnjena uzročno-posledičnim odnosima između čestica od kojih je supstanca izgrađena i da budu zapisana hemijskom simbolikom. Samo na taj način može se očekivati da usvojeno znanje o supstanci bude trajno i efikasno. Usvojenost osnovnih znanja o supstanci sa sva tri gledišta nauke ispitana je nizom zadataka objektivnog tipa na kraju prve godine učenja hemije. Urađeno je ponovno testiranje na početku druge godine učenja. Rezultati postignuti u oba testiranja opravdavaju obradu pojma supstance sa sva tri gledišta hemijske nauke. Analiza postignutih rezultata pruža podatke koji se mogu upotrebiti pri izboru sadržaja i pravljenju nastavnog plana za početak učenja hemije.