“Go-Chemist!”: A mobile app to promote students’ perceptions of chemistry

This study was conducted to investigate the use of the “Go-Chemist!” app on students’ perceptions of chemistry, especially on the topic of atomic structure. This study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. The respondents were 72 students consisting of 42 females and 30 males, at a public high school in Jakarta, Indonesia. They were recruited from 2 intact classes, namely the experimental and control groups, with a total of 36 students each. Students in the experimental group were instructed with the “Go-Chemist!” application, while students in the control group were taught using a printed textbook during the treatment. To collect data, the Perception of Chemistry Questionnaire (PCQ) was completed by all respondents as pre-tests and post-tests to measure changes in their perceptions. Independent and paired sample t-tests were used to check the difference and increase the mean score between the two groups. As a result, students in the experimental group scored higher on perception than students in the control group after the intervention. In addition, students using the mobile app showed a significant improvement in perception compared to their counterparts. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the “Go-Chemist!” app is effective for elevating students’ positive perceptions on the topic of atomic structure. Thus, it is highly recommended for teachers and students to use this mobile app to support teaching and learning chemistry.