IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF PROTOLYTES THROUGH SIMULATION AND PRACTICAL TEACHING

This research examines the impact of different teaching methods on the acquisition of the concept of protoliths by high school students. A total of 60 second-year students at the “Kiril Pejçinović” Gymnasium - Tetovo participated in the study. The respondents were divided into three groups: a control group, where traditional teaching was applied, and two experimental groups – one with real experiments and the other with computer simulations and animations. After conducting pre- and post-intervention tests, the results showed a significant improvement in both experimental groups, where the differences were statistically significant. The group that conducted real experiments achieved the greatest improvement. In particular, an increase was observed in the percentage of correct answers to questions that required analysis and reasoning, proving that active teaching approaches help develop higher-order thinking and a deeper understanding of abstract chemical concepts.