Metavisual activity involving a chemical reaction: challenges faced by students at the representational levels
Atividade metavisual envolvendo uma reação química: dificuldades de estudantes nos níveis representacionais
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/Keywords:
representational levels, chemical reaction,, metavisualizationAbstract
This qualitative research aimed to analyze the difficulties related to the representational levels of three undergraduates during a metavisual chemistry activity. The proposed activity involved the exploration of the three levels, in which the students conducted experimental tests (macro), elaborated symbolic (symbolic) and pictorial (submicro) representations, and then evaluated them using a metavisual strategy. The students' discussions were recorded, transcribed, and organized into units of analysis, which were categorized according to the access/transition at the representational level. The results indicated that when students have difficulty understanding one level of a given concept, they don't seem to understand the other levels, highlighting the importance of moving through the three levels to understand chemical phenomena. The activity had a prevalence of submicrosymbolic transitions, but they occurred in a conflict, demonstrating the students' various conceptual difficulties in general chemistry.
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