Metavisual activity involving a chemical reaction: students' difficulties at the representational levels

This qualitative research aimed to analyze the conceptual difficulties related to the representational levels of three undergraduates during a metavisual chemistry activity. The proposed activity involved the exploration of the three levels, in which the students conducted experimental tests (macro), elaborated symbolic (symbolic) and pictorial (submicro) representations, and then evaluated them using a metavisual strategy. The students' discussions were recorded, transcribed, and organized into units of analysis, which were categorized according to the access/transition at the representational level. The results indicated that when students have difficulty understanding one level of a given concept, they often appear to struggle to comprehend the other levels, highlighting the importance of progressing through the three levels to understand chemical phenomena. Although submicrosymbolic transitions prevailed in the activity, they occurred in a conflicting manner, revealing various conceptual difficulties in General Chemistry