Submicroscopic representations, that present particle nature of chemical concepts, can significantly contribute to the diminishment of misconceptions, as well as to the improvement of chemistry knowledge. They represent an important part of various learning materials, thereby it is often assumed, that the learners are capable of their efficient use and interpretation. The aim of the presented research was to study the role of the explanatory key in processing of submicroscopic representations while solving chemistry tasks that involve them. The pictorial and textual explanatory key was studied by the use of Eyetracker and interviews with non-chemistry major students. The results indicate, that students spent the same amount of time for task solving involving the pictorial or textual explanatory key. However, there are significant differences in their attention focused towards the area of interest involving the submicroscopic representations and the area of interest involving instructions including pictorial or textual explanatory key. Students tend to use more time for processing of the textual explanatory key in comparison to pictorial explanatory key and they also made more fixations on it. Based on the results, it can be devoted, that the key attached to submicroscopic representations, has an important role in processing information and that it is useful for students to include the key into learning materials. In such a way it is also possible to facilitate the development of students’representational competence, which is an important finding for teachers and designers of learning materials.
|
