Highlighting the Cognitive Value and Construction of Chemical Ideas in Concept Teaching: Developing Substance Classification Perspective Through Composition and Properties in the “Acids and Bases” Unit
LIU Hong-Lu1,2, SONG Xiao-Meng3, HUANG Yan-Ning4**, WANG Lei1,2,5**
1. College of Chemistry,Beijing Normal University,Beijing 100875,China; 2. National Research Center for Educational Materials,Beijing 100875,China; 3. Beijing Bayi School,Beijing 100080,China; 4. College of Teacher Education,Capital Normal University,Beijing 100048,China; 5. Faculty of Arts and Sciences,Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai 519085,China
Abstract This study analyzes the disciplinary essential questions and the cognitive perspectives in junior high school chemistry,clarifies the learning performance of the concept of substance classification within this unit. Taking cognitive developmental questions as driving questions,this study designs a series of instructional activities,such as “What characteristics define substances as acids?”“How to determine if a substance is a base?”“How to analyze and predict the properties of unfamiliar substances based on their substance category?”. These activities are intended to support students in constructing an understanding of the class of substances from the perspectives of composition and properties through experimental inquiry,and to develop cognitive methods for understanding substance properties based on substance categories. The study then proposes the concept-construction-oriented instructional strategies,including: (1) organizing instruction around overarching thematic big ideas to foreground the cognitive function of substance classification; (2) using the cognitive developmental questions as the framework to organize instructional sequences aimed at the construction and application of the substance classification perspective; and (3) taking mandatory experiments as a vehicle to promote the integrated development of the substance classification perspective and scientific inquiry abilities.
LIU Hong-Lu, SONG Xiao-Meng, HUANG Yan-Ning, WANG Lei. Highlighting the Cognitive Value and Construction of Chemical Ideas in Concept Teaching: Developing Substance Classification Perspective Through Composition and Properties in the “Acids and Bases” Unit[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Education, 2026, 47(15): 54-62.
