CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM IN TERMS OF ITS CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN THE CONTEXT OF SUBMICROSCOPIC, MACROSCOPIC AND SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION BY LEARNERS

The research was focused on solving the following research question: What is the depth and breadth of 16-year-old learners' knowledge of the chemical equilibrium in Slovakia? The main aim of our research was to find out the conceptual understanding of this part of chemistry in the context of submicroscopic, macroscopic and symbolic representations. A special research tool, which consisted of five sets of tasks, was created for this research. The research included a sample of 473 children. The results indicate that knowledge is more at the level of memory reproduction and algorithmic use. Learners have been facing a problem with the conceptual understanding of the given concept. Keywords: chemical equilibrium, submicroscopic, macroscopic and symbolic interpretation, conceptual understanding.