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An Empirical View of the Teaching of the Chemical Element Concept

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Teaching Science with Context

Part of the book series: Science: Philosophy, History and Education ((SPHE))

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Abstract

The chapter presents an empirical study on the teaching of the chemical element concept. The presupposition was that if teachers know about the history of the chemical element concept, they understand students’ difficulties and can promote a better teaching of this concept. The objective of the research was to survey if the empiricist view of science prevails in the teaching of chemical elements at pre-university level. Forty-eight in-service Mexican teachers participated in this study, and a sample of 30 chemistry textbooks was reviewed and analyzed using two convergent experimental designs. The results show that teachers lack knowledge about the history and philosophy of science and a critical view of the development of the chemical element concept.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Partington (1948); Holton and Roller (1963); Rocke (1986); Mierzecki (1991); Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers (1997); Brock (1998); Paneth (2003); Hendry (2005); Scerri (2007); Ruthenberg (2009).

  2. 2.

    Caamaño et al. (1983); Holding (1985); Llorens (1991); Pozo et al. (1991); Solsona and Izquierdo (1998); Laugier and Dumon (2003); López-Valentín (2008).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Pedagogical University, Mexico City, Mexico

    Dulce María López-Valentín

Authors
  1. Dulce María López-Valentín
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Correspondence to Dulce María López-Valentín .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Maria Elice de Brzezinski Prestes

  2. Institute of Physics of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Cibelle Celestino Silva

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López-Valentín, D.M. (2018). An Empirical View of the Teaching of the Chemical Element Concept. In: Prestes, M., Silva, C. (eds) Teaching Science with Context. Science: Philosophy, History and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74036-2_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74036-2_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74035-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74036-2

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