Chemistry
Almost of the visual representations used in chemistry teaching were abstract in nature. Bob
and Janet co-planned all of the lessons and used similar instructional materials. Many of the
representations used to teach chemistry were at the molecular level. They illustrated the
arrangement and movement of molecules. Rarely were their macroscopic counterparts
shown. As Janet stated, ―It does the kids no good to see a picture of a beaker with liquid, if
they have no idea what is going on with the molecules.‖ The remainder of the representations
used in the course was symbolic—presenting formulas, equations, or structures. Bob used a
greater number of symbolic representations than Janet. As he stated in his interview, ―You
have constantly show them equations. If they don‘t know what they mean at this point in the
semester, it is only going to make it harder later on.‖