Investigating Conceptual Difficulties in High School Chemistry Through Interactive Pedagogy

Abstract

The abstract concept of the nature of molecular interactions is often a stumbling block to conceptual mastery in high school chemistry, resulting in long-term myths and low student interest. This study examines how interactive pedagogy, which is a multi-modal method that integrates cooperative learning methods, digital simulation, and flipped classroom instruction, can be effective in solving these deep-seated conceptual challenges. Based on a quasi-experimental design, the study was conducted on traditionally challenging areas, namely organic chemistry and electrochemistry, in a varied sample of senior secondary school learners. The study design consisted of comparing the pre-intervention and post-intervention tests, with qualitative surveys to assess the changes in the student motivation and cognitive involvement. The findings show that the students who were subjected to the interactive pedagogical settings had statistically significantly better conceptual retention and problem-solving proficiency than students in the traditional lecture-based context. In particular, interactive visualizations were successfully used to fill the gap between the macroscopic observations and sub-microscopic chemical representations that enabled the students to internalize the complex structural logic. The results indicate that interactive pedagogy not only alleviates the short-term learning obstacles, but also the molecular literacy that is fundamental to future academic work in genetics and molecular biology. The research establishes that the incorporation of multimedia-based collaborative systems is essential in reforming education in chemistry. It suggests recommendations to the curriculum designers on emphasizing active visualization tools and peer-led inquiry so as to help in changing chemistry as a subject of rote learning into a subject of conceptual understanding and scientific discovery.