CHALLENGES IN CHEMISTRY LEARNING: PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS FROM AN AMAZONIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL

Abstract

Chemistry learning in upper secondary education involves conceptual difficulties and challenges in connecting scientific knowledge with students’ everyday experiences. This study analyzes the perceptions of 75 students from five classes at a state public school in Manaus, Amazonas, regarding interest, learning and teaching methods related to Chemistry. The research is qualitative and descriptive, supported by descriptive statistics, and uses closed and open-ended questionnaire responses. After harmonizing the grade-specific blocks for the first, second and third years, 65.3% described Chemistry as interesting but difficult, while 17.3% stated that they liked it very much; the mean rating assigned to the subject was 6.73. “I learned little” predominated in reported experiences of the first year (57.3%), second year (68.1%) and third year (53.3%), although teaching methods received positive evaluations from 64.0% to 80.0% of respondents. While 77.3% recognized the importance of science, only 30.7% provided concrete explanations for the relevance of Chemistry, whereas 38.7% offered generic statements. The findings reveal a gap between interest, favorable evaluations of teaching methods and perceived conceptual appropriation. Pedagogical planning should therefore make the relationships among phenomena, models, representations, everyday applications and scientific argumentation more explicit.