Desmystifying Chemistry: Searching definitions of IFRO’s students about the real concept of Chemical Reactions

Abstract

The study of Chemical Reactions presents a number of concepts that facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of chemistry as a science, and its domain critical to progress in other subjects offered in high school. Studies published in the past three decades report that a student who completes high school without
understanding the minimum requirements on Chemical Reactions possibly present difficulties to assimilate other concepts related to the discipline . Considering the importance of this issue, this paper describes the investigation of the definitions of the students about the real concept of Chemical Reactions among students of 2nd year courses Technicians Integrated the Middle Level in Electrical, Computer and Chemistry, Federal Institute of Education, Science Rondônia and Technology, Campus Porto Velho Calama. It was proposed to 65 students who answered a questionnaire containing three questions that assessed their mastery over the subject. Only 1.6 % of students were able to differentiate a chemical reaction in a physical transformation, 9% could justify a chemical reaction correctly focusing on the macroscopic universe and 37 % characterized the phenomenon through justification unifying macroscopic universe with the microscope, however, the rationale being partially correct.