Analysis of the level of cognitive demands about concepts of elements, the periodic table, and atoms on science 2 textbooks in junior high school (I)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the cognitive demands level of the description about 'element', 'periodic table', and 'atom' on the 'science 2' textbooks by the 2007 revised curriculum. The three types of CAT (Curriculum Analysis Taxonomy) have been used to analyze the cognitive demands level of those contents on the 6 kinds of 'science 2' textbooks. The cognitive demands level about 'elements' on many textbooks is a late concrete operational stage, because the descriptions of 'element' are pure substances or no more split into anything simpler substances. That cognitive demands level about one textbook is a early formal operational stage, because the descriptions 'element' are a substance of one kind of atom. The cognitive demands level of 'periodic table' on many textbooks is a late concrete operational stage, because the descriptions about 'periodic table' are the hierarchical classification for the categorizing reality. And the cognitive demands level of 'periodic table' is a early formal operational stage, because the descriptions about 'periodic table' are a collection of 'families' or two-way gradation of elements. That cognitive demands level about one textbook is a late formal operational stage, because the descriptions of 'periodic table' are a complex classificatory structure linking atomic structure. The cognitive demands level about 'atom' is a early formal operational stage because of the descriptions as "atoms have structure, some atoms are the same, or others are different".