Experimentation in chemistry teaching: an analysis of the approaches in textbooks

Abstract

The Chemistry’s textbooks, as a rule, present proposals of experiments with the intention of facilitating the learning of its readers on certain chemical concepts, in some cases, abstract concepts. However, there has been little research involving identification and explanation of the experiments used in textbooks directed to chemistry teaching. This paper presents a study of the types of experimental activities found in Chemistry’s textbooks. Thus, from a qualitative analysis, considering an exploratory research with documentary analysis, a total of 183 experiments were identified in the fifteen analyzed books and categorized into six types of experimental activities. The results showed most of the experimental activities proposed in the Chemistry’s textbooks are of the empirical-inductivist type, besides arguing the need to include investigative experimental activities in the Chemistry’s textbooks. It is also noteworthy that the analyzed books still have gaps when they approach experimentation, indicating an idea of experimental activity only as a proof of the theory in practice.