Enhancing Representational Competence: The Impact of Concrete-Media-Assisted Draw to Learning on Molecular Structures for Students with Diverse Spatial Abilities

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-410-5_56How to use a DOI?

Keywords

representational competence; molecular geometry; spatial abilities

Abstract

Representational competence was crucial in supporting the understanding of chemical materials, especially those requiring visuo-spatial abilities, such as molecular geometry. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of Draw to Learning assisted by concrete media on students’ representational competence in the topic of molecular geometry with varying spatial abilities. The study utilized a quasi-experiment. The subjects of this study were sixty-two fourthsemester students majoring in chemistry at Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, divided into two homogenous classes. Research data included students’ spatial abilities and their understanding of molecular geometry, measured using test instruments comprising (1) a spatial ability test with a reliability of 0.95 and all questions validated and (2) a test of representational competence in molecular shapes with a reliability of 0.905 and 18 out of 20 questions validated. The data were analyzed descriptively and through statistical tests using two-way ANOVA. The results of the study indicated that students’ spatial abilities had developed well and fell into the high category. Draw to Learning assisted by concrete media was more effective than concrete media alone in enhancing students’ representational competence in the topic of molecular geometry. Drawing to learning with concrete media developed representational competence across different spatial abilities. The implication of this research was that Draw to Learning, assisted by concrete media in chemistry education, could assist students with low spatial abilities in understanding three-dimensional molecular geometry.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Masrid Pikoli
AU  - Thayban Thayban
AU  - Haris Munandar
AU  - Erga Kurniawati
AU  - Astin Lukum
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/07/28
TI  - Enhancing Representational Competence: The Impact of Concrete-Media-Assisted Draw to Learning on Molecular Structures for Students with Diverse Spatial Abilities
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sciences, Mathematics, and Education 2023 (ICOSMED 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 545
EP  - 556
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-410-5_56
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-410-5_56
ID  - Pikoli2025
ER  -