The drama of chemistry – supporting student explorations of electronegativity and chemical bonding through creative drama in upper secondary school

Figures & data

Table 1. The table provides an overview and summary of the collected data during the three cycles of intervention in the study.

	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 3
Setting	Teacher A (first author) Class 1 School 1	Teacher A (first author) Class 2 School 1	Teacher B Class 3 School 2	Teacher B Class 4 School 2
Number of students and gender	25 (13 girls and 12 boys)	26 (9 girls and 17 boys)	26 (16 girls and 10 boys)	28 (19 girls and 9 boys)
Number of groups	2 groups recorded of total 5 (4–5 students/group)	4 groups recorded of total 5 (4–6 students/group)	3 groups recorded of total 6 (4–5 students/group)	4 groups recorded of total 6 (4–6 students/group)
Research lesson time (approximate)and content	30 min Introduction (5 min) task 1 and 2 (15 min) task 3 and 4 (10 min), including group discussions before, during and after drama activity in each task	60 min Introduction (5 min) task 1 and 2 (30 min) task 3 and 4 (25 min), including group discussions before, during and after drama activity in each task	60 min Introduction (5 min) task 1 and 2 (30 min) task 3 and 4 (25 min), including group discussions before, during and after drama activity in each task	60 min Introduction (5 min) task 1 and 2 (30 min) task 3 and 4 (25 min), including group discussions before, during and after drama activity in each task
Assignments	written group assignment	written individual assignments	written individual assignments	written individual assignments

Figure 1. Students display electronegativity with facial expressions.

Table 2. Examples of how the qualitative thematic content analysis were applied in the study.

Meaning unit	Code	Category	Theme
Lisa: You must fight with your electrons – so you have to stand and pull and tear into the oxygen atom. Lars: mmmmm Lisa: Because she has everything – is most electronegative!	Fighting for the electrons.	Display electronegativity within bodily mode together with anthropomorphic expressions	Displaying electronegativity and chemical bonding with anthropomorphic expressions
Elliot: eeeee who has- who pulls the most? Arne: Anna pulls the most Elliot: Am I most electronegative? Per: Yes	The most electronegative atom pulls the most in the electrons.
Isak: And so they share two electrons, which is why they hold each other in their arms there, because both atoms want an electron * points to their friends who visualise covalent bond by holding each other's arms*	Covalent bonding, with linked arms and a willingness to share electrons	Display covalent bonding with the bodily mode together with anthropomorphic expression.

Figure 2. Chemical bonding as a continuum.

Figure 3. Bodily formation of a water molecule.

Figure 4. Bodily formation of a water molecule.

Figure 5. Visualisation of a water molecule by placing the student representing oxygen downwards.

Figure 6. The students work on the task of visualising a water molecule.

Figure 7. The students in the group next to Lisa and Britta explain to Sten why the water molecule is polar.

Figure 8. The teacher (in the middle with striped shirt) directs the drama activity.

Figure 9. (a) Sture explains hydrogen bonding in whole-class interaction (b) Collective semiotic work in formation of liquid phase of hydrogen fluoride.