Cooperative dynamics to strengthen understanding of inorganic compounds in upper secondary education

Abstract

The teaching of inorganic chemistry faces challenges related to the theoretical nature of its content, the use of symbolic language, and the limited student participation in methodologies that rely solely on teacher lectures.

The purpose of this research was to analyze students' evaluations of cooperative learning activities used to facilitate the understanding of inorganic compounds at the high school level. A mixed-methods, non-experimental, cross-sectional design with an exploratory-descriptive scope was employed. The study included 82 first-year high school students from the Clemente Yerovi Indaburu Public School, selected from the available student population. Data was collected through a Likert-scale questionnaire, field observation, and an interview with school officials. The study found that the teaching guide for understanding inorganic compounds received positive feedback (70.7%), as did the assignment of roles (69.5%) and the formulation of common objectives to coordinate group work (67.1%). In contrast, the Jigsaw method was rated positively by only 36.6% of participants, with a high proportion of neutral responses. It is concluded that cooperative learning activities are a suitable teaching option for promoting participation and aiding in the learning of inorganic compounds, although they require teacher planning, systematic monitoring, and activities focused on reflection and analysis.