Abstract:

Teaching chemistry is currently struggling with specific problems. By increasing the complexity of the curriculum and placing more emphasis on theoretical memorization, students’ interest in this subject has decreased. However, it is necessary to know and apply the basics of chemistry to everyday life because it is a part of our daily life, and chemistry is a part of primary science education - science literacy. Related to this, there is a current but relatively sensitive topic: the evaluation of students, which is part of every educational process and directly affects the self-confidence of students and teachers. Several measuring tools are used in pedagogical practice, but one of the most objectives is the didactic test.

In the paper, we present findings from the empirical verification of student’s level of knowledge in terms of their durability. We monitored, analyzed, and compared the students’ knowledge in chemistry in the 9th year of primary school and the 1st year of high school. The sample of students was selected randomly. The didactic test consisted of 26 items arranged chronologically, according to years. We evaluated the reliability of the test, analyzed the effect of gender on the overall score and level of education. Using the Pearson’s chi-squared test of goodness of fit, we analyzed the test development time. The reliability of the test showed values higher than 0.75. The statistical evaluation and subsequent analysis of the results show that the average score does not depend on the gender of students but it is rather statistically significantly dependent whether the students attend a primary or secondary school. In the relationship between the parameters, the level of the school attended and the time of the test, depending on the average point gain or the number of researchers participating in the investigation, the average score showed the independence of these parameters, however, the researchers had proven the dependence of these parameters. The results further point to the fact that high school students are better in all respects than primary school students. As part of the research, we used a short questionnaire, where students had the opportunity to comment on the difficulty of the didactic test and their relationship to the subject of chemistry and how the teacher plays a role in the popularity of this subject. The results revealed that the teacher significantly influences the student-subject relationship. It can be assumed that a quality teacher (in terms of knowledge and personality) plays an irreplaceable role in the teaching process.

Keywords:

Science Literacy, Empirical Research, Didactic Test, Knowledge, Chemistry.