Exploring High\nSchool Students’ Chemical Explanatory\nLevels of Thin-Layer Chromatography through Reflective Inquiry

Students’ scientific competencies can be improved\nby structured\ninquiry. Inquiry teaching laboratories that involve thin-layer chromatography\n(TLC) techniques most often involve students examining experimental\nresults. In addition to the integration of structured inquiry into\nthe teaching laboratories of TLC, this quasi-experimental study involved\nstudents in reflection on experimental procedures. We aimed to investigate\nthe impacts of this combination of structured inquiry and reflection\n(i.e., reflective inquiry) on students’ chemical explanatory\nlevels. A total of <i>n</i> = 107 11th grade students participated\nin this study. Students in the experimental group (EG; <i>n</i> = 58) engaged in a 10-week reflective inquiry while students in\nthe comparison group (CG; <i>n</i> = 49) engaged in confirmation\ninquiry. Results showed that reflective inquiry enhanced students’\nexplanations at the experiential level. At the theoretical descriptive\nlevel, students displayed misconceptions or misinterpretation of scientific\nconcepts. Furthermore, presenting the dynamic interactions within\nthe TLC system at the theoretical explanatory level was challenging\nto students. The TLC assessment can provide chemistry teachers with\nthe opportunity to diagnose students’ misconceptions of the\nTLC system at both the experiential level and the theoretical explanatory\nlevel.