IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM-SOLVING DIFFICULTIES OF MOROCCAN PUPILS AND TRAINEE TEACHERS IN LEARNING THE REDOX REACTION CONCEPTS: ELECTROLYSIS CASE

The present study aims to identify and compare difficulties in the acquisition of the knowledge and skills for solving electrolysis redox reactions encountered by Moroccan second-year baccalaureate (high school) students (novices in electrolysis problem-solving) and by trainee teachers of physics and chemistry (experts in electrolysis problem solving) at the Regional Center of Education and Training Professions in Rabat. The students and trainee teachers were asked to answer explicit and implicit questions; these questions were classified as simple or complex. Moroccan learners demonstrated mastery of basic problem-solving skills and chemical concepts, including repeating given knowledge, solving reaction equations, calculating the quantity of matter, calculating the concentration of a solution, and using a RICE (reach, impact, confidence, and effort) table. These skills were analyzed based on the objectives of each question and the skills required to solve each question. Both categories of learners were able to solve all of the problems presented in the questions. The participants included 107 students and 110 trainee teachers; the data were collected during the 2020/2021 school year and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The performances of the two groups were compared. On average, the trainee teachers (rank: 137) scored higher than the students (rank: 80) on the problem-solving skills defined in the redox learning outcomes. Thus, the trainee teachers performed better on the questions than the students, indicating a clear difference in mastery of the skills required to solve chemistry problems. However, although the trainee teachers were considered experts and solved the problems more successfully than the students (novices), not all the trainee teachers had mastered all necessary conceptual and methodical skills related to the topic of electrolysis.