Type of test questions to higher education access in chemistry subject

Abstract

In this work, the test question typology to higher education access in chemistry subject has been studied. This study was performed in the autonomous community of Andalusia. According to curriculum topics and the category system proposed by Smith, Nakhleh y Bretz (2010) for chemistry exams, 576 questions were analyzed. The most frequent topics were stoichiometry, formulation and chemical nomenclature and acid-base equilibria, which accounted for about two thirds of the questions. The three categories of questions used were: definition, algorithmic and conceptual questions were used. It was observed a predominance of the algorithmic questions, although in recent years, some progresses of conceptual questions have been observed, but not statistically significant changes. A clear dependence between the type of question and the specific issue involved was observed. Therefore, questions about formulation were mostly included in the “definition” category, question about stoichiometry and thermodynamic in the “algorithmic” category and atom, periodic table and chemical bond questions were included in the conceptual category. From the data obtained, the need for a reorientation in the future of PAU tests is discussed.