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As Table 6 and Figure 1 demonstrate, a significant decrease in the number of students who did not recognize the concepts is observed. For example, 54.9% of the students reported that they were not familiar with the concept ‘Isotope’ before the basic course, whereas only 10% of students said so in the post test. The same trend is found for all concepts that were the less familiar at the beginning of the basic course. Figure 1. Percentage of students who chose ‘do not know the concept’.

Table 6 As Table 6 and Figure 1 demonstrate, a significant decrease in the number of students who did not recognize the concepts is observed. For example, 54.9% of the students reported that they were not familiar with the concept ‘Isotope’ before the basic course, whereas only 10% of students said so in the post test. The same trend is found for all concepts that were the less familiar at the beginning of the basic course. Figure 1. Percentage of students who chose ‘do not know the concept’.

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Table 2. Distribution of the student population. Methodology
Table 2. Distribution of the student population. Methodology
Table 3.Categorization of chemical concepts. Content validation: The concepts included in the questionnaire needed to reflect the main ideas in the ‘chemical literacy’ definition. Therefore, five members of the chemistry group
Table 3.Categorization of chemical concepts. Content validation: The concepts included in the questionnaire needed to reflect the main ideas in the ‘chemical literacy’ definition. Therefore, five members of the chemistry group
Questionnaire 5: Urlticdal reading Of a Short UNKNOWN palagrapn This questionnaire aimed at assessing the students’ ability to analyze a paragraph. involving chemical information. This aspect is considered to be part of conceptual and multi- dimensional chemical literacy. To assess the manifestation of high-order cognitive skills (analysis, synthesis and interpretation of information) in a chemical context, we developed three short paragraphs: ‘Green chemistry’, which presented the role of chemistry in diminishing the problems of pollution and waste; ‘Mankind and materials through history’. which reviews the use and production of materials by mankind as a function of a growing understanding of the structure of matter, starting with the Stone Age and Iron Age, and ending with nano-technology as the next scientific horizon. The last paragraph deals with health issues as presented in advertisements. It consists of two citations from the media: one discusses the potential hazard of excessive salt consumption, and the other presents an advertisement of a natural herbal compound, helping people to reduce weight. Four members of the chemistry group revised the paragraphs, and agreed that high-school students should understand them and be able to answer the associated questions. The paragraphs were followed by open-ended questions, which can be divided into four categories: T lanaretannina tha anfrnecmatan anpelidad im the waracranh. (vending camnvrahancian \*
Questionnaire 5: Urlticdal reading Of a Short UNKNOWN palagrapn This questionnaire aimed at assessing the students’ ability to analyze a paragraph. involving chemical information. This aspect is considered to be part of conceptual and multi- dimensional chemical literacy. To assess the manifestation of high-order cognitive skills (analysis, synthesis and interpretation of information) in a chemical context, we developed three short paragraphs: ‘Green chemistry’, which presented the role of chemistry in diminishing the problems of pollution and waste; ‘Mankind and materials through history’. which reviews the use and production of materials by mankind as a function of a growing understanding of the structure of matter, starting with the Stone Age and Iron Age, and ending with nano-technology as the next scientific horizon. The last paragraph deals with health issues as presented in advertisements. It consists of two citations from the media: one discusses the potential hazard of excessive salt consumption, and the other presents an advertisement of a natural herbal compound, helping people to reduce weight. Four members of the chemistry group revised the paragraphs, and agreed that high-school students should understand them and be able to answer the associated questions. The paragraphs were followed by open-ended questions, which can be divided into four categories: T lanaretannina tha anfrnecmatan anpelidad im the waracranh. (vending camnvrahancian \*
Table 4: Assessment of chemical literacy. The contribution of the basic chemistry course to students' ‘chemical literacy’ was measured by a pre-post comparison. In order to determine the continuous contribution of the advanced course to students' ‘chemical literacy’ two points in time were chosen: the middle of the advanced course and the end of the advanced course.
Table 4: Assessment of chemical literacy. The contribution of the basic chemistry course to students' ‘chemical literacy’ was measured by a pre-post comparison. In order to determine the continuous contribution of the advanced course to students' ‘chemical literacy’ two points in time were chosen: the middle of the advanced course and the end of the advanced course.
Table 5. Differences between means, representing acquaintance with chemical concepts, pre and post the basic course (on a 1-3 scale). The relatively high means for most categories (around 2.5), presented in Table 5, indicat hat most of the students were already familiar with many chemical concepts at the beginning of the basic course. This is true especially for concepts included in the following categories scientific inquiry, sub-micro concepts, general types of substances, and specific materials. I is suggested that many concepts in these categories were familiar from science studies i1 middle school (for example: atom and molecule), and from daily life (for example: air) Concepts that were included in the ‘Chemical reaction’ category were less familiar to thé students (mean 2.1) at the beginning of the basic course. No significant differences wer found regarding the categories ‘General types of substances’ and ‘Specific materials’. Thi: san be explained by the fact that many items were already rated at the maximal level in the ore-test by most students, especially in the category of “specific materials” (items such as air »zone, and metal), whereas other items were less familiar at the beginning of the course anc ‘emained that way, since they were not addressed in the syllabus of the basic course and wer« 10t discussed during the course. To sum up, comparing the results of students at the beginning of the basic course (10" grade) and at the end of it (same classes) revealed a significan improvement in students’ acquaintance with concepts included in three out of five categories. The growing acquaintance with chemical concepts is also demonstrated in the change o yercentage of students, who chose specific concepts as unfamiliar. Table 6 and Figure |
Table 5. Differences between means, representing acquaintance with chemical concepts, pre and post the basic course (on a 1-3 scale). The relatively high means for most categories (around 2.5), presented in Table 5, indicat hat most of the students were already familiar with many chemical concepts at the beginning of the basic course. This is true especially for concepts included in the following categories scientific inquiry, sub-micro concepts, general types of substances, and specific materials. I is suggested that many concepts in these categories were familiar from science studies i1 middle school (for example: atom and molecule), and from daily life (for example: air) Concepts that were included in the ‘Chemical reaction’ category were less familiar to thé students (mean 2.1) at the beginning of the basic course. No significant differences wer found regarding the categories ‘General types of substances’ and ‘Specific materials’. Thi: san be explained by the fact that many items were already rated at the maximal level in the ore-test by most students, especially in the category of “specific materials” (items such as air »zone, and metal), whereas other items were less familiar at the beginning of the course anc ‘emained that way, since they were not addressed in the syllabus of the basic course and wer« 10t discussed during the course. To sum up, comparing the results of students at the beginning of the basic course (10" grade) and at the end of it (same classes) revealed a significan improvement in students’ acquaintance with concepts included in three out of five categories. The growing acquaintance with chemical concepts is also demonstrated in the change o yercentage of students, who chose specific concepts as unfamiliar. Table 6 and Figure |
Table 6. Most unfamiliar concepts.
Table 6. Most unfamiliar concepts.
Table 7. Students’ explanations of chemical concepts.
Table 7. Students’ explanations of chemical concepts.
Table 8. Comparison of mean values regarding explanations of phenomena pre and post the basic course. Table 8 demonstrates that a relatively small percentage of students attained the level of onceptua he correc f correct mply tha iscussed tudents s chemical statements regarding familiar phenomena was very answers ranged from 21-55 at the end of the basic course. The during the basic course. The results indicate that by the end of ill lack the ability to use the knowledge they acquired in their ifferent contexts, such as explanations of daily phenomena. The basic c ot contribute to this ability, since there were no significant differences in students’ scores pre nd post the basic course. chemical literacy at the end of the basic course. The students’ ability to the task was perceived as a difficult one, and a totally different task sually practised in class. Also, some items contained chemical knowledge t he basic course most chemistry studies in hemistry course does poor. The relatively determine percentage ow scores from that hat is not
Table 8. Comparison of mean values regarding explanations of phenomena pre and post the basic course. Table 8 demonstrates that a relatively small percentage of students attained the level of onceptua he correc f correct mply tha iscussed tudents s chemical statements regarding familiar phenomena was very answers ranged from 21-55 at the end of the basic course. The during the basic course. The results indicate that by the end of ill lack the ability to use the knowledge they acquired in their ifferent contexts, such as explanations of daily phenomena. The basic c ot contribute to this ability, since there were no significant differences in students’ scores pre nd post the basic course. chemical literacy at the end of the basic course. The students’ ability to the task was perceived as a difficult one, and a totally different task sually practised in class. Also, some items contained chemical knowledge t he basic course most chemistry studies in hemistry course does poor. The relatively determine percentage ow scores from that hat is not
Table 9. Comparison of mean values regarding acquaintance with chemical concepts, (on a 1-3 scale The mean values of all three groups express a high level of acquaintance with chemical concepts. By the end of the advanced course there is a significant improvement in the acquaintance with chemical concepts. This claim is supported by the Duncan’s multiple range test results. Students at the middle of 11" grade are not significantly different from those at the 10" grade. One explanation to this finding can be the lack of alignment between the assessment tool and the curricular sequence: about 2/3 of the items in this test should already be familiar to them in 10" grade and about 1/3 of them are part of the syllabus of the 12" grade (for example: polymers, reaction rate, and protein). Only three items in the list are introduced in 11" grade (acid, base, and oxidation). The emphasis of 11" grade studies is on stoichiometry, which is not regarded as essential for basic chemical literacy; therefore, 11" grade students probably know more chemistry than 10" grade graduates, but are similar to them in terms of nominal chemical literacy requirements. This finding can also be explained by the fact that the assimilation of many new chemical concepts is not immediate. Although students learn or hear about concepts in 11" grade, a real understanding is not achieved immediately, but only after a few months. Regarding the category of ‘Specific substances’, all groups rated it almost maximally, as most items included in this category are well known from daily life (air, ozone, steel, carbon). similar to the advanced level group in their attitude toward chemistry learning (Shwartz, 2004). Since these groups were found to be similar in terms of attitudes toward chemistry learning, it seemed logical to compare the contribution of further learning to various levels of chemical literacy. For analysis of variance, we used a general linear models procedure (Duncan’s multiple range test) (Winer, 1971).
Table 9. Comparison of mean values regarding acquaintance with chemical concepts, (on a 1-3 scale The mean values of all three groups express a high level of acquaintance with chemical concepts. By the end of the advanced course there is a significant improvement in the acquaintance with chemical concepts. This claim is supported by the Duncan’s multiple range test results. Students at the middle of 11" grade are not significantly different from those at the 10" grade. One explanation to this finding can be the lack of alignment between the assessment tool and the curricular sequence: about 2/3 of the items in this test should already be familiar to them in 10" grade and about 1/3 of them are part of the syllabus of the 12" grade (for example: polymers, reaction rate, and protein). Only three items in the list are introduced in 11" grade (acid, base, and oxidation). The emphasis of 11" grade studies is on stoichiometry, which is not regarded as essential for basic chemical literacy; therefore, 11" grade students probably know more chemistry than 10" grade graduates, but are similar to them in terms of nominal chemical literacy requirements. This finding can also be explained by the fact that the assimilation of many new chemical concepts is not immediate. Although students learn or hear about concepts in 11" grade, a real understanding is not achieved immediately, but only after a few months. Regarding the category of ‘Specific substances’, all groups rated it almost maximally, as most items included in this category are well known from daily life (air, ozone, steel, carbon). similar to the advanced level group in their attitude toward chemistry learning (Shwartz, 2004). Since these groups were found to be similar in terms of attitudes toward chemistry learning, it seemed logical to compare the contribution of further learning to various levels of chemical literacy. For analysis of variance, we used a general linear models procedure (Duncan’s multiple range test) (Winer, 1971).
(*) The significance of the difference was established by a post-hoc multiple comparisons analyzing samp! proportion Table 10. Percentage of correct explanations of chemical concepts, at each level of chemistry study.
(*) The significance of the difference was established by a post-hoc multiple comparisons analyzing samp! proportion Table 10. Percentage of correct explanations of chemical concepts, at each level of chemistry study.
Table 11. Comparing the mean values regarding explanations of chemical phenomena.
Table 11. Comparing the mean values regarding explanations of chemical phenomena.
Table 12. Results of reading an unseen text (on a 1-3 scale). For most of the categories, no significant differences exist between the three groups for any of the three administered versions. In addition, there were similarities in students’ ability at all levels to list the key words in each article: most students’ lists contained 3-7 key words. Only a few of them mentioned 1-2 key words or more than 8 words. The key words, mentioned by each of the groups, were almost identical. The similarity in results can be explained by the fact the reading articles is not obligatory in the current chemistry program (either in basic or advanced), therefore, most students, at all levels of teaching, were unfamiliar with this kind of task, and presented similar responses. In a few cases, 12" grade students demonstrated more articulated responses. For example, regarding the “Green Chemistry” paragraph, students were asked to explain what a catalyst is, and why catalysts were used in the specific example given in the paragraph. Since this concept is introduced only at the end of 11" grade (or the beginning of 12" grade), there was a significant improvement in the students’ ability to answer this question.
Table 12. Results of reading an unseen text (on a 1-3 scale). For most of the categories, no significant differences exist between the three groups for any of the three administered versions. In addition, there were similarities in students’ ability at all levels to list the key words in each article: most students’ lists contained 3-7 key words. Only a few of them mentioned 1-2 key words or more than 8 words. The key words, mentioned by each of the groups, were almost identical. The similarity in results can be explained by the fact the reading articles is not obligatory in the current chemistry program (either in basic or advanced), therefore, most students, at all levels of teaching, were unfamiliar with this kind of task, and presented similar responses. In a few cases, 12" grade students demonstrated more articulated responses. For example, regarding the “Green Chemistry” paragraph, students were asked to explain what a catalyst is, and why catalysts were used in the specific example given in the paragraph. Since this concept is introduced only at the end of 11" grade (or the beginning of 12" grade), there was a significant improvement in the students’ ability to answer this question.
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