Validation of the Strategy for Determining the Numerical Rating of the Cognitive Complexity of Exam Items in the Field of Chemical Kinetics - Validation

Oct 15, 2026

The study validates a strategy for assessing the cognitive complexity of chemical kinetics exam items. The approach uses three steps: evaluating the difficulty of concepts, evaluating distractor value, and assessing concept interactivity. Student misconceptions were also examined as potential influences on achievement. Eighty-seven first-year secondary students participated, with a knowledge test measuring performance and a five-point Likert-type scale capturing perceived mental effort. Regression analysis confirmed significant correlations between students’ achievement, invested mental effort, and a numerical cognitive complexity rating.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and misconceptions in chemical kinetics

Relation to chemical equilibrium and thermodynamics

Challenges with equilibrium constant and reversibility

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1235](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1235) Validation of the Strategy for Determining the Numerical Rating of the Cognitive Complexity of Exam Items in the Field of Chemical Kinetics Saša Horvat*1, Dušica Rodić2, Nevena Jović3, Tamara Rončević2 and Snežana Babić-Kekez2 • The main goal of this study was to validate the strategy for the assessment of the cognitive complexity of chemical kinetics exam items. The strategy included three steps: 1) assessment of the difficulty of concepts, 2) assessment of distractor value. and 3) assessment of concepts’ interactivity. One of the tasks was to determine whether there were misconceptions by students that might have influenced their achievement. Eightyseven students in the first year of secondary school participated in the study. A knowledge test was used as a research instrument to assess the performance, and a five-point Likert-type scale was used to evaluate the perceived mental effort. The strategy was validated using regression analysis from which significant correlation coefficients were obtained between selected variables: students’ achievement and invested mental effort (dependent variables) and a numerical rating of cognitive complexity (independent variable) . Keywords: mental effort, performance, chemical equilibrium 1 *Corresponding Author. Faculty of Sciences at University of Novi Sad, Serbia; [sasa.horvat@dh.uns.ac.rs](sasa.horvat@dh.uns.ac.rs). 2 Faculty of Sciences at University of Novi Sad, Serbia. 3 Master student of chemistry education at Faculty of Sciences at University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Potrjevanje strategije za določanje številčne ocenekognitivne zahtevnosti izpitnih nalog s področjakemijske kinetike Saša Horvat, Dušica Rodic, Nevena Jović, Tamara Rončević in Snežana Babić-Kekez • Glavni cilj te raziskave je bil potrditev strategije za ocenjevanje kogni-tivne zahtevnosti izpitnih nalog iz kemijske kinetike. Postopek sestoji iz treh korakov, in sicer: 1) ocene težavnosti pojmov, 2) ocene vrednostimotečih dejavnikov, 3) ocene interaktivnosti konceptov. Ena izmed nalog je bila ugotoviti, ali so se pri učencih pojavile napačne predstave, ki bi lahko vplivale na njihov uspeh. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 87 srednješolcev 1. letnika. Preizkus znanja je bil uporabljen kot instrument zbiranja podatkov glede uspešnosti, obenem pa je bila uporabljena tudi 5-stopenjska lestvica Likertovega tipa, s katero so srednješolci ocenili zaznan miselni napor. Veljavnost je bila potrjena z regresijsko analizo; taje pokazala statično značilne vrednosti korelacijskih koeficientov medizbranimi spremenljivkami: dosežki študentov in vložen miselni napor (odvisni spremenljivki) ter numerična ocena kognitivne zahtevnosti (neodvisna spremenljivka) . Ključne besede: miselni napor, dosežek, kemično ravnovesje Introduction As an experimental science, chemistry also includes computation in numerical problems and reading texts. Many students have difficulty with learning chemistry because they are required to have literacy competencies and the ability to solve numerical problems (Yunus & Ali, 2012) . Teaching students to solve problems and finding an effective problem-solving strategy is an important task of education and modern research (Barczi, 2013) . Students often have difficulties with problem-solving in chemistry due to insufficient knowledge, as well as the existence of alternative concepts and misconceptions (Taber, 2002) . Many of the alternative concepts are related to the understanding of chemical substances, chemical kinetics, and chemical changes. The chemical kinetics concept is included in the courses of general and physical chemistry and is closely related to thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium (Justi, 2002) . Numerous misconceptions and misunderstandings of the concepts of chemical kinetics have been observed in students; many misconceptions are described in the paper by Bain & Towns (2016) . Misconceptions abou

FAQs

What is the main goal of the study on chemical kinetics exam items?

To validate a strategy for assessing the cognitive complexity of chemical kinetics exam items, including how students’ misconceptions may affect achievement.

What are the three steps in the proposed cognitive complexity assessment strategy?

Concept difficulty is assessed, distractor value is evaluated, and concept interactivity is examined.

How were performance and mental effort measured in the study?

A knowledge test measured performance, and a five-point Likert-type scale was used to evaluate perceived mental effort.

Oct 15, 2026

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