JAPANESE STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF MATTER AND ITS CHANGES

Abstract

Abstract: This study investigated Japanese students’ understanding of matter and its changes and their difficulties in terms of macroscopic and submicroscopic representations. A multiple-choice questionnaire was administered to 446 Japanese high school students grades 10, 11, and 12. The findings showed that students’ understandings of the concepts were good enough, however their ability to relate macroscopic to submicroscopic representation was relatively low. There were two trends founded; one trend was that their macroscopic and submicroscopic representations were increased across grades and another trend was that the rate of correct answers on macroscopic level was higher than their submicroscopic representation. Submicroscopic understandings on the concepts of homogeneous mixtures, changes of phase from solid to liquid and from solid to gas were considerable difficulties.

Abstract: Penelitian ini menginvestigasi pemahaman dan kesulitan siswa Jepang dalam topik materi dan perubahannya dikaitkan dengan gambaran makroskopis dan submikroskopis. Angket bentuk pilihan ganda dibuat dan disebarkan ke 446 siswa SMA Jepang kelas 10, 11, dan 12. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pemahaman siswa terhadap konsep tersebut cukup baik, namun kemampuan mereka dalam mengaitkan antara gambaran makroskopis ke mikroskopis relatif rendah. Ada dua kecenderungan yang ditemukan. Pertama gambaran makroskopis dan submikroskopis meningkat dari kelas 10 ke kelas 12. Kedua, jawaban yang benar rerata level makroskopis lebih tinggi daripada gambaran submikroskopis. Konsep campuran homogen, perubahan fase dari padat ke cair dan dari padat ke gas merupakan konsep yang paling sulit bagi siswa.