HOW TO MAKE THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT INTERESTING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC? / COMO TORNAR O AMBIENTE VIRTUAL INTERESSANTE DURANTE A PANDEMIA DE COVID-19?

Unexpectedly, social distancing became a rule, forcing schools and universities to introduce an emergency remote education. The information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being used in many cases only as a way of transmitting content, reducing its potential to promote interaction between users, contextualization to daily life, and failing to make the student a protagonist in their learning process. In this sense, knowing and handling the available tools is essential in the current moment of education. Thus, in order to perform a brief review and at the same time point out ways to research or use technological resources in teaching, this article reports, albeit modestly, some of the tools that can be used for teaching Chemistry at different levels and educational modalities of this science. For this task, several easily accessible resources were selected to bring ways of instigating and making remote classes more interesting in Chemistry learning.

Comparative Effectiveness of Virtual Laboratory Instructional Package in Teaching Chemistry in Private and Public Secondary Schools

The study investigated Comparative Effectiveness of Virtual Laboratory Instructional Package in Teaching Chemistry in Private and Public Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to compare the performance of students in chemistry in both private and public secondary schools in Ondo state using Virtual Laboratory Instructional Package. The study adopted the quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group design. The sample for the study consisted of 183 senior secondary school two (SSSII) science students that were selected across the three senatorial districts of Ondo state using multistage sampling techniques. Two groups were involved in the study; the experimental group and the control group. The students in the experimental group were exposed to virtual laboratory instructional package while the control group was taught chemistry with the conventional method. One instrument; Chemistry Achievement Test was used to collect data for the study. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through test-re-test method and the reliability index of 0.75 was obtained for the instrument. Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 were tested with Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). However, Multiple Classifications Analysis (MCA) was used to identify the variable that contributed to the difference among groups. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that students exposed to Chemistry practical through virtual laboratory Instructional package in private secondary schools performed significantly better than their counterparts in public secondary schools. It was also found from the study that, gender has no effects on student’s performance in public secondary schools meanwhile; there was gender difference in the performance of students in private secondary schools in favour of female students. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Government at all levels should endeavour to provide information and communication facilities like computer based instructional package in schools to teach chemistry and such must be made accessible to all students, so as to promote interactive and individualized learning among secondary school students.

Development of a Field-Based Chemistry Experiment Teaching Model to Strengthen Pre-Service Teachers’ Competence for Teaching Chemistry Experiments

The FCE (field-based chemistry experiment) model was developed to cultivate pre-service science teachers’ ability to teach chemistry experiments in secondary classrooms. We describe the process of developing the FCE model and student activities via feedback from experts and analysis of the implemented program. This study evaluated the effectiveness of implementing the FCE model with 58 pre-service science teachers to examine how this model impacts on the role of the instructor and students. Implementation impact was examined by analyzing qualitative data from surveys and observations of student activities. The FCE model minimized the role of the instructor by using flipped learning and cooperative learning, which enabled learners to construct class contents by themselves with topics aligned to the secondary science curriculum. Findings suggest the FCE model supports pre-service science teachers to acquire both knowledge and practical skills related to conducting and teaching experiments. Implications for pre-service science teacher preparation are discussed.

Use of computer teaching systems in the learning process

Just a few decades ago, books were mostly used as educational media, while posters, various mechanical models, etc. were used as educational visual illustrations. Laboratory experiments for teaching chemistry, physics, biology, etc. were conducted in schools and colleges using real materials. Today the situation is drastically changed and all this has been forgotten. Modern computer teaching technologies are being rapidly introduced in the educational space replacing old tehcnology with hypertexts, e-books and textbooks, tutorials and many other forms and contents.

Molecular Model and Its Simplification in Teaching Stereoisomerism at Undergraduate Level

The role of molecular models in teaching chemistry is well-known. It is widely used in explaining the shape of molecules. Several authors have reported the difficulty in teaching stereochemistry/chirality. Some researchers have pleaded that the students face difficulty in solving stereochemistry problems because of poor visualization of three-dimensional structure of molecules. The present paper describes herewith the use of simple and inexpensive ball-stick molecular models in teaching stereoisomerism (conformation, configuration, and chirality in allenes) of organic molecules at undergraduate introductory organic chemistry course. It specially describes the use of simplified molecular models in determining the configuration (R or S) of the molecule.

THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE METHODS IN THE FORMATION OF THE COGNITIVE ACTIVITY OF STUDENTS

Проанализировано содержание основных понятий исследования: «метод», «когнитивный метод», «активность», «познавательная активность». Изучено содержание когнитивных методов в процессе обучения химии. Охарактеризованы способы развития познавательной активности обучающихся. Сделаны выводы, что когнитивные методы содействуют всестороннему развитию личности обучающегося в процессе обучения химии, формируют навыки самостоятельного решения задач и ситуаций. Также установлено, что описанные методы способствуют критическому анализу противоречивых идей, формированию высокого уровня познавательной активности. The article analyzes the content of the basic research concepts: «method», «cognitive method», «activity», «cognitive activity». The content of cognitive methods in the process of teaching chemistry has been studied. The ways of development of students' cognitive activity are characterized. It is concluded that cognitive methods contribute to the comprehensive development of the student's personality in the process of teaching chemistry, form the skills of independent problem and situation solving. It was also found that the described methods contribute to the critical analysis of conflicting ideas, the formation of a high level of cognitive activity.