Evaluation of a thermochemistry teaching sequence for teacher training

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to design a teaching sequence about thermochemistry as a guided inquiry for High School, implement it in two training courses for preservice Physics and Chemistry teachers and evaluate its impact on the improvement of their knowledge about thermochemistry. Thirty-five undergraduate students of the last course of Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering participated and discussed in small groups the proposed sequence as an activity program for 12 two-hour sessions. To test the effectiveness of the teaching sequence, a pre-test/post-test design was applied based on a questionnaire with 5 open-ended questions in which they had to predict and explain the thermal effects in 3 physical and 2 chemical phenomena. The results show that the thermochemical knowledge of future teachers improves, although the size effect achieved has not been the same for each phenomenon.