Talking Chemistry in Small Groups: Challenges with Macroscopic, Submicroscopic and Symbolic Representations Among Students

The aim of this study is to explore how 8th grade students express their chemistry knowledge in small group discussions. We conduct a fine-grained qualitative analysis of the discussions to identify challenges concerning the different levels of representations in chemistry. Data was collected in 2018-2019 in Finland within a teacher’s developmental project. We found that the students’ discussions were often situated in one of the levels of chemistry, macroscopic, submicroscopic, or symbolic, and the students showed difficulties linking the different levels to find explanations. By supporting the students with artefacts, such as pictures that linked the levels, we saw indications of how students’ discussions on multiple levels could be promoted.