Term 2 Issues in teaching and Learning Science

Term 2: Issues in teaching and Learning Science

Chemistry was one of the more difficult sciences which I had difficulty learning in. Perhaps it was due to the large reference and relation to mathematics, which is a subject that I am just as bad in. Chemistry was mostly covered in term one where topics thought included the Periodic Table, Structure of Atoms as well as the various elements which required much memorization and hardwork. It was quite tiring

Periodic Table and the Elements:

I have to admit that the first time I saw the Periodic Table, I was just shocked and confused with no idea of how I would be able to understand that table with a bunch of letters all about. I knew that it represented the various elements, but I never knew how to understand it with reference to the atomic number, atom structure and etc. Fortunately, Mr Lim managed to help me understand the entire Periodic Table. Overall, the Periodic Table being an essential part of the entire Science syllabus, I felt that it was taught in a rather easy to understand method and the elements were covered in detail through presentations and notes. However, I felt that Chemistry especially is quite confusing but I managed to overcome this problems by consulting my siblings and as well as my classmates. Fortunately, they were all willing to help. Thank you! I also used the IVLE to check for the lesson packages to further understand the topic and clarify some of my doubts.

Structure of Atoms & Chemical Bonding:

I felt that Chemistry became quite difficult at this point when various sub-topics of the elements came flooding in. For instance, alongside the structure of atoms, there were also other aspects which included very complicated concepts such as chemical bonding. Perhaps for Chemistry, the structure of the syllabus could be changed in order to make it easier and clearer to understand for students. I personally felt that Chemistry was a rather heavy and dreaded subject due to the vast amount of knowledge that I had to comprehend and memorise at one go. Therefore, most of the time I just found myself extremely lost when learning Chemistry. In my opinion, Chemistry never made much sense to me because I believed that there was simply no logic or basis in understanding the various structures of the atoms and elements. Fortunately, due to the presence of my friends I managed to pull through and grasp the basic knowledge on atoms, chemical bonding. In fact, I slowly grown to enjoy Chemistry throughout the term with help.

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