A PROTOCOL ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY ON STUDENTS ACTIONS, VERBAL COMMENTARY, AND THOUGHT PROCESSES DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF ACID-BASE TITRATIONS

We investigated students' initial and final understanding of acid-base concepts and their concurrent thought processes and actions during th e process of acid-base titrations. Here we report students' actions an d thought processes while titrating. Different levels of information w ere presented by three technologies: chemical indicators, pH meters, a nd microcomputer-based laboratories. We speculated that the level of i nformation would influence students' actions and thought processes. as expressed in verbal commentary. Data were collected from 14 secondary chemistry students. Each student used one technology to titrate a str ong acid, a weak acid, and a polyprotic acid with a strong base. They verbalized their thoughts while titrating. Students then graphed pH ve rsus volume of base and discussed the titration with the investigator. Verbal commentaries were coded and analyzed for patterns in actions a nd for frequency of statement categories. Drawings were analyzed for s hape, scale, and direction; discussions were analyzed for understandin g of acid-base neutralization. We found that the technology's level of information affected the focus of students' observations. The microco mputer group focused primarily on the graph; other groups exhibited mu ltiple foci. We speculate the screen display functions as an auxiliary short-term memory. The discussion data also reveal that students held three main ideas about how acids and bases behave when mixed. Implica tions for instruction are discussed.