Exploring the construction of a conceptual model of chemical equilibrium in Taiwanese junior high school science textbooks through a scientific modeling process

Abstract

Textbooks play a crucial role in science learning and teaching. Research has demonstrated that students’ construction of scientific models would be facilitated via scientific modeling. If science textbooks present the complete process of scientific modeling, students would understand scientific modeling considerably more easily. This study employed the content analysis method to examine the conceptual model of chemical equilibrium that is based on a fourstage scientific modeling process—with the four stages being model development, model validity, model deployment, and model reconstruction—for 15 versions of science textbooks used between 1968 and 2019. Results highlighted that most versions focus on the model development and model validity stages; only a few versions presented detail on the model deployment and model reconstruction stages. On the basis of the findings, the author suggests that textbooks should not only provide students with the complete process of scientific modeling but should also anchor a context as a link between science and daily life.