Computerized Molecular Modeling - the New Technology for Enhancing Model Perception among Chemistry Educators and Learners

Insufficient emphasis is put in science teaching on the fact that models are simulations of reality based on a certain theory and that molecules are not miniatures of the models that represent them. We investigated how chemistry teachers and high school students who enrolled in a special program perceive the nature and functions of models by using a model perception questionnaire. In the research 34 preand in-service teachers attended a 14 hours workshop on models and their model perception was investigated with the model questionnaire. This questionnaire was also administered to two groups of high-school chemistry students – experimental and control – which studied chemical bonding and structure. The teachers of the experimental group participated in the training and emphasized the model concept via using various models including computerized molecular modeling, whereas the control group teachers taught the topic in the traditional way, without the aid of computer and without emphasizing the model concept. Overall, the in-service training on models has improved several aspects of the teachers' model perception in both stages. This finding is confirmed by the significant difference found between the experimental and control groups of the high school students. Students’ results indicate the effectiveness of the treatment on students’ conceptualizing the meanings of models, especially in the domain of chemistry. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2000, 1, 109-120]