Obtenção da estrutura conceitual do tema interações intermoleculares através da transformação de textos em mapas conceituais

Abstract

The present study aimed at obtaining concept maps about intermolecular interactions in chemistry textbooks commonly used in higher education. The conceptual maps were manually elaborated by marking the concepts in the texts, extracting the propositions between the concepts, and constructing a concept map with the conceptual relationship of the texts. From the obtained concept maps, we highlighted the most important concepts, the propositional relations between these concepts, the central concepts that allow unifying fundamental ideas and the definition of a conceptual hierarchy. The concepts represented in the concept maps can be grouped into three categories: 1) types of intermolecular interactions; 2) molecular properties that define the nature and forces of these interactions, and 3) examples, phenomena or macroscopic properties. Moreover, the centrality of the concepts polarity and polarizability and their relationship foster a more in-depth understanding of the topic. Concerning educational implications, the use of this strategy by the teacher, who elaborate the concept map, might assist in a deeper and integrated understanding of this knowledge, helping her/him to design a better plan and to determine the best approach to such relationships in the classroom.