Conceptions and troublesome knowledge on acid-base using the two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test

Acid-base is one of the materials that tend to be difficult for students to understand. Acid-base is a material that is conceptually solid and requires an integrated understanding of many of the concepts of introductory chemistry. This research is descriptive research that aims to find conceptions of students on acid-base subjects and asking about concepts that are considered troublesome according to their learning experiences. The subjects of this research were 31 students of class XI IPA 4 at SMAN 3 Pariaman. The instruments in this research are diagnostic tests and interviews. The result of this research is the students of SMAN 3 Pariaman have difficulties in learning about the acid-base subject with high category. The percentage of conceptions experienced by students in each indicator is 56.3% of students understand the concept, 20.8% misconception, and 22.9% do not understand the concept. In the second indicator, 45.2% of students understood the concept, 18.3% had misconceptions and 36.5% did not understand the concept. In the 3rd indicator, 35.5% of students understood the concept, 31.2% had misconceptions and 33.3% did not understand the concept. In the 4th indicator, 21.9% of students understand the concept, 27.7% do not understand the concept and 50.3% do not understand the concept. Meanwhile, the acid-base theory, the calculation of pH or pOH, and the relationship between the degree of acidity (pH) and the degree of ionization (a), and the acid equilibrium constant (Ka) or the base equilibrium constant (Kb) are considered troublesome knowledge because they can be conceptually difficult.

Can Students Learn to Use Textbooks Effectively?

Can a class assignment covering the reading help students do better in an introductory chemistry class for nonmajors? Two sections of the same course have been compared where one section had a reading assignment that "forced" the students to interact with the text while the other class had the typical homework, quiz assignments, and discussion posts. Both groups took 3 exams and the final exam. A t-test compared the means for each exam, the final exam, and the overall class average. The mean was higher for the group that had the reading assignment in each case. The mean for the class was 71.3% versus 66.7% (p value = 0.050). The mean for exam 1 was 73.0% versus 60.5% (p = 0.052). The mean for exam 2 was 73.3% versus 67.5% (p = 0.225). The mean for exam 3 was 76.9% versus 62.4% (p = 0.044). The final exam was 56.6% versus 55.3% (p = 0.445). The implication may be that students do not understand how to study or what is involved in effective studying. When reading the text is incentivized as an assignment, more students seemed to interact with the text, and more were likely to succeed in the class. This paper examines how interacting with the text for a class supports comprehension.