PROFIL KEMAMPUAN REPRESENTASI MAHASISWA CALON GURU DALAM MEMECAHKAN MASALAH KIMIA, Ida Farida1, Liliasari 2, Dwi H. Widyantoro3 dan Wahyu Sopandi4

A preliminary study on the
possibility of developing representational competence pre-service chemistry
teachers have been done. The aim of  this
descriptive study was to provide description about representational
competence's profile of pre-service chemistry teachers in chemical problem
solving and to give consideration about the learning strategy have been
conducted. The results showed that most students were unable to provide
explanations relating to the representation of sub-microscopic level, which
exist between the macroscopic and symbolic levels of representation. There were
tendency those students solved problems using a transformation from the
macroscopic to the symbolic level of representation and vice versa. Although
they should give explanation at sub-microscopic level of representation, they
did not understand the role of sub-microscopic representation to explain the
macroscopic level or transformed into symbolic level. Presumably, the lack of
student representation competence, because the lectures were held tend to
separate the three levels of representation and influence the learning process
which they experienced in senior high school. Those problems need serious
efforts to find solution.