Expériences pour améliorer l'apprentissage de la chimie par la modélisation

The process of modelling is inherently widespread in teaching approaches and in general human interaction with the world. When facing a new situation in their everyday life, students most common way of reacting is to ask for an example. This example can be then be seen as a model of the associated knowledge with some limitations. Models are indeed defined by their specific content and by the way they are elaborated or structured. In the context of science teaching, it is commonly observed that students misunderstand the exact role of models and underestimate their limitations. For instance, they often believe that models represent the unique truth, ignoring their inherent adaptability. Moreover, the importance of the modelling process and of an adequate analysis of the different dimensions spanned by the model concept itself is not sufficiently addressed in the various curricula. To overcome these misconceptions, a modelling approach is presented with the aim of helping students to become familiar with various scientific concepts associated with chemistry such as chemical kinetics, electrochemistry and chemical equations. In this study, modelling procedures have been developed within the framework of experimental activities. The active participation of students is promoted through the following activities: realizing and observing experiments dedicated to various concepts, modelling the associated results individually or in groups, taking part in guided discussions supervised by the teacher.