The relevance of computer-based molecular modeling and the effect of interest: A survey of Finnish lower-secondary education pupils’ perceptions

The aim of this research is to study what kind of relevance do novice lower-secondary pupils experience when they use computer-based molecular modeling (CBMM) for the first time. CBMM offers many possibilities for chemistry education. However, it has not been studied at the lower-secondary level. This research was conducted via two research questions. RQ1: Which dimensions of relevance are empha-sized in computer-based molecular modeling in the novice user experi-ence of lower secondary education pupils? RQ2: How do different background variables (interest towards a) chemistry and b) computers) affect the relevance of computer-based molecular modeling? These research questions were answered via a survey, where the total num-ber of respondents was 130 lower-secondary pupils. Using descriptive statistics for RQ1 and Fisher’s exact test for RQ2, we found that nov-ice lower-secondary pupils consider CBMM to be the most relevant from the societal perspective, but individual and vocational dimensions were also present. CBMM was considered important for chemistry research and in the future its role will be even more essential because the use of computers will grow in near future. According to these find-ings, CBMM is a highly relevant tool for chemistry education at the lower-secondary level.