TEXT ANALYSIS, RESEARCH OF STUDENT'S UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT THE DEFINITION AND NECESSITY OF THE MOLE CONCEPTS -THE BASIC RESEARCH FOR THE TEACHING MOLE CONCEPTS-

Abstract

In this research, our aim is to improve teaching of the mole concepts which is one of the most important and difficult concepts in the upper secondary school chemistry. The method used in our research is as follows: First we examined the study of the mole concepts in recent science educational papers in the U.S.A., U.K. and our country. Next, we analyze SCIENCE I textbooks. Then, we gave out questionaries to 698 high school students who have studied. chemistry to determine how well they understand the mole concepts. In this research, through the analysis of both SCIENCE I textbooks and the responses of the students, we obtained the following results. 1.Most of SCIENCE I textbook didn't describe mole concepts with SI units. Only four textbooks used definition with SI units. 2.Only nine textbooks of eighteen SCIENCE I defined the mole as a counting unit. 3.The necessity of the introduction on the mole concepts was emphasized because particle is so small that we use it with difficulty. 4.Many students regarded the mole as groups of 6.02x1023 particles. Definition with SI units was used only in one upper secondary school. No other schools used this definition.