Science Students’ Misconceptions of Basic Concepts of Chemistry on Matter and Its Particulate Properties

Abstract

This paper aims to explore and discuss students’ misconceptions in explaining and representing matter and its particulate nature. The study was conducted quantitatively where data were obtained and analyzed through a two-level diagnostic test. Students' misconceptions are assessed based on objective answers in the first level. Then, in the second level, misconceptions are assessed based on open-ended questions that require students to construct a written descriptions as well as particle diagrams. Sixty secondary school students (age fourteen) participated in this study.  Wilcoxon sign rank test analysis revealed that the median of the null hypothesis compared to each item median in diagnostic test have a significant difference of the diagnostic test at the significant level of 0.05. Based on the results, it turns out that each students have misconceptions on 100% of the items. Those misconception about basic chemical concepts are comprising both at the macroscopic and microscopic levels. Such misconceptions make it difficult for students to determine the exact facts and build explanations including representing particles that are coherent with the scientific facts between the observed phenomena and the phenomenon of particles. As a result, students face challenges in order to build conceptual understanding on the topic about matter and its particulate nature. The results of the study also enable appropriate learning methods to be developed specifically to overcome the misconceptions of basic chemical concepts in middle school.