Chemical bond: representations in Chilean School Texts

Abstract

In this work the images on the covalent, ionic and metallic chemical bond present in Chilean textbooks are analyzed. This study makes a contribution in the analysis of textbooks from a descriptive approach based on the semiotic representations proposed by school texts in Chile. A total of 10 books published between 2010 and 2016, five books of the eighth year of basic education and five books of first year of secondary education are analyzed. In the analysis five study criteria have been used. In relation to the function of the didactic sequence, we appreciate that the texts continue to propose a rigid and dogmatic science model, and aspects related to interpretation and problematization in the images are not evidenced. In the degree of iconicity the tendency is to incorporate standardized symbols. The functionality of the images is of a syntactic nature and the relationship between the text and the image is connotative, with the reader interpreting that relationship. Verbal labels are merely nominative, lacking significant contributions to interpret the image.