Investigating high-school chemical kinetics: the Greek chemistry textbook and students' difficulties

Abstract

In this study we present an analysis of how the structure and content of the Greek school textbook approach the concepts of chemical kinetics, and an investigation of the difficulties that 11th grade Greek students face regarding these concepts. Based on the structure and content of the Greek textbook, a tool was developed and applied to students in the form of test questions in order to investigate the difficulties that they encounter with concepts and facts of chemical kinetics. Our results indicate that the textbook presentation at several points does not take into consideration basic findings of chemistry education research, which could improve the understanding of the content, and that a large proportion of Greek students show low comprehension levels of the concepts and facts of chemical kinetics. Given the important role of the school textbook in the learning process, it seems that the structure and content of the textbook do not facilitate the conceptual understanding of the subject matter, and together with other factors contribute to the difficulties that students face regarding concepts in chemical kinetics.