MoyoEd Research

Dr. Caleb Moyo

Preparing students for A-Level Edexcel Chemistry is not just about covering the syllabus or specification; it is about shaping conceptual understanding, refining examination techniques, and developing the metacognitive skills that high-stakes science assessments demand. In recent years, research in chemistry education has made it clearer than ever that teachers play a decisive role in improving exam outcomes through structured pedagogical strategies, planned formative assessments, and targeted support for conceptual change. Drawing on both recent studies (2018–2024) and seminal scholarship in science learning, this paper outlines the most effective teaching practices for boosting student performance across most examination boards.

1. Build Strong Foundations Through Formative Assessment.

Formative assessment remains the most powerful tool for improving academic achievement, with Black and Wiliam’s landmark review (1998) laying the foundation for decades of evidence. More recent work in chemistry classrooms (e.g., Abrahams & Reiss 2017; Shepard 2019) continues to confirm that frequent low-stakes assessment strengthens both retention and conceptual clarity.

Why It Matters in Senior Chemistry

Examiners have repeatedly commented that students often:

• Misinterpret command words,
• Fail to justify reasoning in multi-step calculations,
• Struggle with applying principles (e.g., equilibrium, energetics, organic reactions, and mechanisms) in unfamiliar contexts. Consequently, formative assessments expose these weaknesses early enough for remediation.

Teacher Strategies

• Weekly micro-assessments: Five-question quizzes targeting misconceptions (e.g., Le Chatelier’s principle, oxidation numbers, enthalpy definitions, and Hess’s cycle).
• Exit tickets: Two-minute reflections on what was understood or what was still confusing.
• “Show your reasoning” prompts: Train students to articulate multi-stage calculations required in thermodynamics, ideal gas equation, and kinetics questions.
• Whole-class feedback sessions: Summarise errors from mock papers without naming learners; model better responses. Additionally, AI can be used for students to compare their answers with the AI outputs and exam mark schemes. You may want to use the examiners’ comments for consolidation here.

Research continues to demonstrate that timely feedback, which is specific, actionable, and forward-focused, drives measurable performance gains (Shute 2008; Hattie 2023 review.

2. Use Spaced Repetition to Strengthen Long-Term Recall

Science content decays quickly without revision, and spacing effects have been supported for more than a century (Ebbinghaus 1885) and validated repeatedly in modern educational neuroscience (Kang 2016; Weinstein, Madan & Sumeracki 2018).

Why It Matters in Chemistry.

The specifications of the spiral content are as follows: atomic structure informs bonding; bonding feeds into energetics; and energetics connects directly to equilibrium and kinetics. Spacing revision ensures that students revisit these conceptual threads long before the exams.

Teacher Strategies

• Implement a term-long spaced revision schedule:
  For example, Week 1—atomic structure; Week 3—bonding; Week 6—energetics; Week 10—equilibrium.
• Cumulative quizzes: Add a healthy percentage of older topics to every new assessment (retrogressive assessments). This keeps students frequently revising.
• Revision booklets: Prepare spaced flashcards for mole concept, spectroscopy, organic mechanisms, and periodicity (areas where cognitive overload is common). These booklets could be made from past exam paper questions to ensure relevance.
• Use dual coding (Clark & Paivio 1991): Diagrams of electron flow, Hess cycles, or enthalpy profiles paired with short textual explanations improve recall.

Students who perform well with spaced practice also show improved marks on calculation questions, where rapid retrieval is essential.

3. Scaffolding and Cognitive Apprenticeship: Supporting Students Until Independence

Vygotskian ideas on the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) laid the groundwork for scaffolding, later refined by cognitive apprenticeship models (Collins, Brown & Holum 1991). Recent chemistry-specific studies (Taber 2019; Cooper & Stowe 2018) posit that learners benefit significantly when teachers break complex processes into manageable cognitive steps.

Why It Matters in Chemistry.

Many topics involve layered reasoning; for example, electrode potentials require an understanding of redox reactions, thermodynamics, and equilibrium. Scaffolding helps students move from novice to expert thinking.

Teacher Strategies

• Model worked examples step-by-step, then gradually remove support (“I do → we do → you do”). (see DR ICE model)
• Provide partial mechanisms in organic chemistry and let students complete the missing steps, or erroneous student answers for them to correct. There are various past paper questions that can be used for this purpose.
• Use guided templates for spectroscopy deduction (IR → Mass spec → NMR → structural conclusion).
• Introduce problem-solving frameworks, such as:
  • Identify and process data (knowns and unknowns).
  • Select the applicable principles or relevant skills and knowledge required.
  • Apply calculations, linking to data processing.
  • Interpret chemically, linking the macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic in explanations.

This structured approach aligns directly with the exam board’s preference for method-based reasoning.

4. Diagnostic Questioning to Expose and Correct Misconceptions.

Chemistry is infamous for its persistent misconceptions. Taber (2002) identified alternative conceptual frameworks in bonding, energetics, and equilibrium that remain common to this day. Diagnostic questioning, short, targeted questions that reveal mental models, has scaled significantly in recent years with platforms like Diagnostic Questions (Fletcher-Wood 2018). Multiple-choice questions could be combined with reasons for the selection choice and the degree of confidence on a scale.

Some Common Misconceptions in A-Level Chemistry.

• Equilibrium shifts because concentrations change, not because the system “tries to undo change.”
• Students confuse the rate with the yield in Haber Process scenarios.
• Organic mechanisms: Arrows represent the movement of atoms rather than electron pairs.
• Spectroscopy: IR peaks are often misinterpreted as individual bonds rather than as functional groups, the wave number scale is often misread too.

Teacher Strategies

• Use multiple-choice diagnostic questions at the start of each topic.
• Require students to explain why wrong answers are wrong.
• Introduce conceptual contrast by showing two similar scenarios with subtle differences (e.g., changes in pressure vs. changes in catalyst).
• Use concept cartoons to allow students to safely analyse flawed reasoning.

Correcting misconceptions early prevents errors in practical theory questions, where conceptual misunderstandings lead to method-mark losses.

5. Apply Conceptual Change Models to Deepen Understanding.

Seminal conceptual change frameworks (Posner et al. 1982; Chi 2008) remain central to chemistry-education research. Students replace incorrect models only when instruction creates cognitive dissatisfaction with their current understanding and offers a more coherent alternative to it.

Teacher Strategies

• Creating cognitive conflict: Demonstrations that contradict intuitive beliefs, for example, dissolving ammonium chloride causes a temperature decrease (endothermic yet spontaneous).
• Use bridging analogies: Link macroscopic observations to particle-level explanations, especially in terms of entropy and thermodynamics.
• Encourage self-explanation: Students verbalise why a concept makes sense.

Conceptual change efforts are particularly important for topics such as entropy, electrode potentials, and equilibrium constant expressions, which are heavily weighted in Paper 1 and Paper 2.

6. Harness Laboratory-Based Pedagogy for Practical Mastery.

The required practicals are a core part of examinations, and recent studies (Abrahams & Millar 2008; Seery 2020) highlight that practical work improves conceptual understanding only when it is tightly linked to theory and reflection. This means that practicals should be conducted in parallel with content for relevance and not in retrospect.

Why It Matters.

Students often perform practical procedures but fail to understand the following:

• The underlying rationale,
• Sources of error,
• The connection between the method and chemical theory, (the recipe approach).

Teacher Strategies

• Pre-lab concept teaching: Explain why a titration endpoint looks as it does, why reflux is needed, and why drying agents are required. Students may be assigned to watch relevant videos as a flipped lesson.
• Post-lab reflection templates
  • What did we observe?
  • What does this mean chemically?
  • Where could errors occur?
  • How would this appear in an exam question?
• Rotate student roles (technician, analyst, presenter) to build procedural fluency.

Linking each required practical to past paper questions builds transferable understanding.

7. Explicit Teaching of Exam Technique

Recent assessment research (Baird et al. 2019; Ofqual 2022) confirms that exam technique training significantly improves performance when paired with subject knowledge.

Teacher Strategies

• Teach students how to decode command words (“justify,” “deduce,” “explain the trend”).
• Use examiner reports to highlight common pitfalls after students’ attempt.
• Mark sample responses together: Teachers model how to allocate marks logically.
• Train students to structure long answers in rate, equilibrium, inorganic, or organic synthesis mechanism questions.

Students who understand how marks are distributed write more concise and accurate answers under timed conditions and to the required mark allocation.

8. Support Metacognition and Self-Regulation

Metacognitive regulation, planning, monitoring, and evaluation have some of the highest effect sizes in educational research (EEF, 2021). In chemistry, where cognitive load is high, metacognition directly improves the accuracy of problem-solving.

Teacher Strategies

• Teach students how to audit their weak areas using topic checklists.
• Use “think-aloud” modelling to show how experts approach multi-step problems.
• Reflection journals after mock exams to identify recurring errors. A focus group discussion could provide clearer areas of focus.

These practices help students to self-correct before the final exams.

Conclusion: What Teachers Can Do Now

Preparing students for the A-Level Chemistry exams is ultimately a blend of the following:

• strong pedagogy,
• strategic assessment,
• conceptual clarity, and
• exam-technique mastery.

When teachers integrate formative assessment, spaced repetition, scaffolding, conceptual change teaching, diagnostic questioning, and high-quality practical work, students develop both the knowledge and cognitive resilience needed. The research is unambiguous: these strategies are effective. When applied consistently, they help every learner, from borderline candidates to high achievers, reach their potential in one of the most demanding A-Level subjects.

References

Abrahams, I., & Reiss, M. J. (2012). Practical work: Its effectiveness in primary and secondary schools in England. International Journal of Science Education, 34(17), 2975–2998. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.708796

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969595980050102

Chi, M. T. H. (2008). Three types of conceptual change and their implications for science learning. In S. Vosniadou (Ed.), International handbook of research on conceptual change (pp. 61–82). Routledge.

Coll, R. K., France, B., & Taylor, I. (2005). The role of models and analogies in science education: Implications from research. International Journal of Science Education, 27(2), 183–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950069042000276712

Cooper, M. M., & Stowe, R. L. (2018). Chemistry education research—From personal empiricism to evidence, theory, and informed practice. Chemical Reviews, 118(19), 11858–11866. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00201

Kang, S. H. K. (2016). Spaced repetition promotes efficient and effective learning: Policy implications for instruction. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215624708

Ofqual. (2022). Review of marking reliability and student performance in high-stakes examinations. Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications

Seery, M. K. (2020). The role of practical work and laboratory learning in chemistry education. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 21(3), 758–766. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RP00165K

Taber, K. S. (2002). Chemical misconceptions: Prevention, diagnosis and cure. Royal Society of Chemistry.

Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-017-0087-y