FACING DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING CHEMISTRY ONLINE

          Online  learning or distance learning is endlessly discussed in the pandemic era. Many aspects have been affected by this disaster, and learning components are no exception. Learning components are an important aspect in the process of teaching and learning activities, including the curriculum, teachers, students, learning methods, learning materials, learning tools or media, and evaluation. The difficulty of online learning for students is understanding the material, especially chemistry material. Face-to-face learning and laboratory practice would certainly help students, both school students and university students, understand chemistry material by observing it and connecting it to everyday – life. During the pandemic it is of course difficult to carry out face-to-face learning or practicals, which increases the difficulty of understanding or learning chemistry.

            Compared with other fields, chemistry often seems harder. There are several reasons why learning chemistry often seems difficult, one of which is that chemical concepts are abstract. According to (Chang, 2005), Chemistry is the science that studies matter and its changes, with elements and compounds being the substances involved. Most of chemistry is an experimental science, and most of its knowledge is obtained from laboratory research. Chemistry also has distinctive characteristics that differentiate it from related fields. Chemistry studies matter in terms of structure, composition, and the phenomena of reactions – reactions when matter changes and the energy that accompanies the change (Gilbert, Kirss, Foster, et al., 2018).

            Studying chemistry certainly confronts learners or students with the challenge of understanding macroscopic representations related to phenomena that can be observed in everyday life and in the laboratory. In chemistry learning, although there is theoretical material, it is better if that theory is combined with practice. Every teacher of course differs in how they carry out learning activities; some use synchronous or asynchronous learning. Synchronous learning is learning that uses a platform providing online meeting features so that learners and educators can communicate directly. In asynchronous learning, by contrast, the teacher only gives students material in the form of PDF files or videos, and the students then study the material by themselves.

            In asynchronous learning, or independent learning where only learning materials are provided, students have to think hard to understand the content of the material. Even more so in chemistry. When at the next meeting the teacher reviews the previous meeting's material and asks why, whether there is anything not yet understood, most students will fall silent and not respond. There are two possible reasons why students do not respond: the first is that the student already understands, and the second is that the student does not understand and so is confused about what to ask.

            Online learning, especially in chemistry, will give rise to many obstacles and difficulties for learners. Learners must truly understand chemical concepts, calculations, and even the reactions that take place. Without direct guidance from a facilitator, students' level of understanding will be low; even with a modern platform, showing videos, and providing learning materials, if the teacher does not explain directly, and students do not see things in reality and practise them directly, the value students gain will be small. By value here I mean the skill value of interpreting it in everyday – life.

Newspaper : Harian Momentum

E-paper http://m.harianmomentum.com/read/33206/harian-momentum-12-april-2021