Prior knowledge in chemistry instruction : some insights from students’ learning of ACIDS BASES

Abstract EN

The main purpose of teaching is to enhance learning by students.

However, research has shown that teaching often has limited success in guiding students from their pre-instructional conceptual frameworks to new understandings.

Therefore in order to improve or enhance learning, teachers would need to be clearer about the sort of understanding, knowledge and skills they want to develop with their students.

This is only possible if teachers are aware of the ways in which students grapple with their own learning processes.

That is, teachers need to understand students’ prior knowledge and how it is used in knowledge construction during learning.

This chapter raises three issues about prior knowledge: firstly it demonstrates the importance of prior knowledge on learning; secondly, it illuminates on the effects of the quality of prior knowledge on learning outcomes and lastly, it reports on the implications for the teaching of concepts in chemistry.

To effectively assess the three issues about prior knowledge, an in-depth qualitative analysis of students’ concepts and their use was conducted on three constructs of prior knowledge.

The findings clearly demonstrate that if we are to improve students’ learning in general and particularly in chemistry, far more attention should be paid on assessing the quality of the factors that influence the outcome(s) of their learning the most.

Therefore, it is important to have a better understanding of students’ prior knowledge before embarking upon teaching of new material