The Research Of Chemistry Learning About "Macro-Micro-Symbol" Threefold Representation

Many students think chemistry is one of their difficult courses at the secondary and undergraduate levels. And the main reason is the complexity of chemistry course oneself. Therefore looking for a method that commands the teaching and learning of chemistry from the characteristic of chemistry has being received the extensive concern. Chemistry is a subject that research constitutes, structure, property and changing regulation of material on the molecular and atom levels. The property embodies macroscopic changing. The microscopic constitutes and structure is the basis that comprehends the property and changing. And the chemical symbol describes the macroscopic matter and changing regulation from the microscopic level, becoming the bridge to connect the macro and micro world. Thus, the learner will develop three special representations to the material: macroscopic representation, microscopic representation and symbolic representation. Therefore studying and understanding chemistry from the combining angle of three representations, i.e. threefold representation, is an effective method that commands the teaching and learning of chemistry. The research focuses on five aspects: the achievement and exiting problems made in three levels of chemistry learning, The theory's constructing about threefold representation, The investigation on our students'thinking mode about threefold representation, the analysis of chemical textbook published by Shandong Education Press and practical research about threefold representation. In 1980s', Professor A. H. Johnstone of Scotland put forward three levels of chemistry learning first. Other scholars are also successive to this research, and obtained some results. But totally, the oversea research is not in-depth and systemic, while our research is just beginning in this aspect. From the inherent contact of macroscopic, microscopic and symbolic representations, this research clarifies the inherent basis and basic meaning of threefold representation by asking for help from the psychologic concept—representation. Threefold representation is a kind of mode of thinking, and it has a series of important values. In addition, we set up five kinds of...