New Perspectives in Science Education

The conceptual profile framework is based on the assumption that people exhibit various modes of thinking that are used in various contexts [1]. Chemical analysis is a central concept of Chemistry [2] and is characterized by a worthwhile polysemy, which is observed in both scientific and everyday language, such as the one employed in science classrooms. The purpose of this study is the development of the conceptual profile of chemical analysis, as a tool for characterizing the heterogeneity of students’ ways of speaking and, therefore, thinking about it [3,4]. The conceptual profile is composed of several zones. Each zone represents a specific way of thinking about the given concept and emerges from the study of this concept in different genetic domains [1]. In the present study, the concept of chemical analysis is explored within the socio-cultural genetic domain via examination of relevant secondary historical and epistemological literature. As a result, the following six conceptual profile zones which are related to the foundations of the concept of chemical analysis are proposed: chemical analysis as (a) everyday practices, (b) alchemist analysis, (c) empirical techniques, (d) classical analysis, (e) classical instrumental analysis and (f) a contemporary tool for society. Refinement and enrichment of the above proposed zones will follow by studying the ontogenetic and microgenetic domains of chemical analysis.