New Perspectives in Science Education

A conceptual profile consists of different zones, which represent distinct ways of thinking about a concept and are applied in different contexts [1]. In this work, a particular way of thinking about the fundamental chemical concept of chemical analysis, the “chemical analysis as everyday practices” zone, is described as an illustrative example of the development of the conceptual profile of chemical analysis. An inductive–deductive qualitative analysis approach was adopted to analyse data obtained from different genetic domains that were combined in a dialogic way [2]. More specifically, literature on the history and epistemology of the concept (sociocultural domain) as well as on students’ alternative conceptions (ontogenetic domain) was examined and data were categorized in terms of how someone perceives chemical analysis [1]. In our case, the way of thinking about chemical analysis “as everyday practices” involves perceptions of simple organoleptic procedures of isolation and separation of stuff and objects, based on the use of senses and on direct observations of mostly explicit properties in order to fulfil daily and professional needs. Such expanded categories of data subsequently served as a coding framework for the analysis of primary data obtained from students' questionnaires (microgenetic domain). Ontological, epistemological and axiological commitments that differentiate this zone from other ways of thinking were detected [3].