Effectiveness of Some Instructional Media for Teaching Organic Chemistry: In the Case of Second Year Chemistry Students of Arba Minch University, Ethiopia

Abstract

Many students have difficulty learning symbolic and molecular representations of chemistry. This action research investigated how students develop an understanding of chemical representations with the aid of a visualizing tool that allowed them to build molecular models and view multiple representations simultaneously. Multiple sources of data were collected with the participation of 30 randomly selected 2nd year Chemistry students and two subject teachers in Arba Minch University (AMU) over 2-weeks period. The results of pre- and post- test showed that students' understanding of chemical representations improved substantially. The analysis of their interviews based on oral questions revealed that ball and stick model helped students to construct models and translate chemical compounds representations. Students who were highly engaged in discussions while using model made referential linkages between visual and conceptual aspects of representations. This in turn may have deepened their understanding of chemical representations and concepts. The findings also suggest that models can serve as a vehicle for students to generate mental images. Finally, students demonstrated their preferences of certain types of representation.

Keywords: Teaching aid, Ball and Stick model, instructional media

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-22-04

Publication date:August 31^st 2021