A Lakatosian Conceptual Change Teaching Strategy Based on Student Ability to Build Models with Varying Degrees of Conceptual Understanding of Chemical Equilibrium

The main objective of this study is to construct a Lakatosian teaching strategy that can facilitate conceptual change in students' understanding of chemical equilibrium. The strategy is based on the premise that cognitive conflicts must have been engendered by the students themselves in trying to cope with different problem solving strategies. Results obtained (based on Venezuelan freshman students) show that the performance of the experimental group of students was generally better (especially on the immediate posttests) than that of the control group. It is concluded that a conceptual change teaching strategy must take into consideration the following aspects: a) core beliefs of the students in the topic (cf. 'hard core', Lakatos 1970); b) exploration of the relationship between core beliefs and student alternative conceptions (misconceptions); c) cognitive complexity of the core belief can be broken down into a series of related and probing questions; d) students resist changes in their core beliefs by postulating 'auxiliary hypotheses' in order to resolve their contradictions; e) students' responses based on their alternative conceptions must be considered not as wrong, but rather as models, perhaps in the same sense as used by scientists to break the complexity of a problem; and f) students' misconceptions be considered as alternative conceptions (theories) that compete with the present scientific theories and at times recapitulate theories scientists held in the past.     

A Conceptual Change Teaching Strategy to Facilitate High School Students' Understanding of Electrochemistry

Recent research in chemistry education has shown an increasing interest in the facilitation of conceptual change in student understanding of chemical concepts. Most of the studies have tried to show the difference in student performance on algorithmic and conceptual problems. The objective of this study is to go beyond and design a teaching strategy based on two teaching experiments that could facilitate students' conceptual understanding of electrochemistry. The study is based on two sections (control, n = 29; experimental, n = 28) of 10th grade high school students at a public school in Venezuela. Experimental group participated in two teaching experiments designed to generate situations/experiences in which students are forced to grapple with alternative responses leading to cognitive conflicts/contradictions. Results obtained show that learning electrochemistry involves both algorithmic and conceptual problems. On Posttest 1, 93% of the experimental group students responded correctly, in contrast to 39% of the control group. On Posttest 2, 39% of the experimental group responded correctly, in contrast to 0% of the Control group. The difference in performance on both posttests is statistically significant (p < 0.001). It is concluded that the teaching experiments facilitated students' understanding (progressive transitions) of electrochemistry.     

Response to Contradiction: Conflict Resolution Strategies Used by Students in Solving Problems of Chemical Equilibrium

The main objective of this investigation was to show that a novel problem of chemical equilibrium based on a closely related sequence of items can facilitate students' conceptual understanding. Students were presented a chemical reaction in equilibrium to which a reactant was added as an external effect. A series of three studies were designed. In Study 1, the sequence of items started with a major alternative conception, namely, After the reaction has started, the rate of the forward reaction increases with time and that of the reverse reaction decreases, until equilibrium is reached. In Study 2, the major alternative conception was presented the last. In Study 3, instead of the sequence, only the following statement was presented: Rate of the reverse reaction increases gradually. In all three studies students had to agree/disagree with the statements and provide justifications. Results obtained show that at least one group of students, in Study 1 used a contradictory response pattern based on the generation and resolution of a cognitive conflict, which facilitated conceptual understanding. In Studies 2 and 3 students did not experience a similar cognitive conflict. Given the complexity of conceptual change and students' resistance to alter their alternative conceptions (cf. hard core, Lakatos )1970) Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 91–106), it is suggested that changes in students' responses may have undergone a Peripheral Theory Change (Chinn and Brewer (1993) Review of Educational Research 63: 1–49).     

Reasoning strategies used by students to solve stoichiometry problems and its relationship to alternative conceptions,prior knowledge,and cognitive variables

Achievement in science depends on a series of factors that characterize the cognitive abilities of the students and the complex interactions between these factors and the environment that intervenes in the formation of students' background. The objective of this study is to: a) investigate reasoning strategies students use in solving stoichiometric problems; b) explore the relation between these strategies and alternative conceptions, prior knowledge and cognitive variables; and c) interpret the results within an epistemological framework. Results obtained show how stoichiometric relations produce conflicting situations for students, leading to conceptual misunderstanding of concepts, such as mass, atoms and moles. The wide variety of strategies used by students attest to the presence of competing and conflicting frameworks (progressive transitions, cf. Lakatos, 1970), leading to greater conceptual understanding. It is concluded that the methodology developed in this study (based on a series of closely related probing questions, generally requiring no calculations, that elicit student conceptual understanding to varying degrees within an intact classroom context) was influential in improving student performance. This improvement in performance, however, does not necessarily affect students' hard core of beliefs.     

Exploring the effects of cognitive conflict and direct teaching for students of different academic levels

Despite inconclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of cognitive conflict, educators still consider it a significant instructional strategy. One of the challenges of current research is to study the conditions under which cognitive conflict is effective. This research examines the notion that cognitive conflict may have dissimilar effects for students of different academic levels. The study compares the effectiveness of teaching the control of variables thinking strategy to students of two academic levels (low vs. high) by two different teaching methods [inducing a cognitive conflict (ICC) vs. direct teaching (DT)]. One hundred twenty‐one students who learned in a heterogeneous school were divided into four experimental groups in a 2 × 2 design. Results show no main effect of teaching method but do show a significant interaction effect between level of students and teaching method. The findings show that students with high academic achievements benefited from the ICC teaching method while the DT method hindered their progress. In contrast, students with low academic achievements benefited from the DT method while the ICC teaching method hindered their progress. The interaction effect was preserved in a retention test that took place 6 months after instruction. The findings show that previous inconclusive findings regarding the effectiveness of the ICC method can be explained by its contradictory effects on students of different academic levels. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 829–855, 2005     

Educational Standards: Mapping Who We Are and Are to Become

Educational technology supports meaningful learning and enables the presentation of spatial and dynamic images, which portray relationships among complex concepts. The Technology-Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) involves media-rich software for simulation and visualization in freshman physics carried out in a specially redesigned classroom to facilitate group interaction. These technology-based learning materials are especially useful in electromagnetism to help students conceptualize phenomena and processes. This study analyzes the effects of the unique learning environment of the TEAL project on students' cognitive and affective outcomes. The assessment of the project included examining students' conceptual understanding before and after studying electromagnetism in a media-rich environment. We also investigated the effect of this environment on students' preferences regarding the various teaching methods. As part of the project, we developed pre- and posttests consisting of conceptual questions from standardized tests, as well as questions designed to assess the effect of visualizations and experiments. The research population consisted of 811 undergraduate students. It consisted of a small- and a large-scale experimental groups and a control group. TEAL students improved their conceptual understanding of the subject matter to a significantly higher extent than their control group peers. A majority of the students in the small-scale experiment noted that they would recommend the TEAL course to fellow students, indicating the benefits of interactivity, visualization, and hands-on experiments, which the technology helped enable. In the large-scale implementation students expressed both positive and negative attitudes in the course survey.     

Index to Volume 95

ABSTRACT

The authors compared a conceptual model- based problem-solving (COMPS) approach with a general heuristic instructional approach for teaching multiplication–division word-problem solving to elementary students with learning problems (LP). The results indicate that only the COMPS group significantly improved, from pretests to posttests, their performance on the criterion test (that involves equal groups and multiplicative compare problems) and the prealgebra model expression test. The study results suggest that elementary students with LP can be expected to move beyond concrete operations and to algebraically represent mathematical relations in conceptual models that drive the solution plan for accurate problem solving.     

THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT ON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT

Three teaching methods were compared in this study, namely a Cognitive Conflict Management Module (CCM) that is infused into Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE), (Module A) CASE without CCM (Module B) and a conventional teaching method. This study employed a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design using non-equivalent control groups. The design involved 130 participants from Form 2 (Grade 7) in a Malaysian secondary school. The cognitive level of all participants was classified as non-formal operational on the pre-test and were allocated to one of the four intact groups: experimental group 1, EP1 experienced Module A, experimental group, and EP2 experienced Module B, while the others were divided between two control groups. The impact of the three teaching methods on the level of cognitive development and science achievement were observed after a 20-week intervention. Data were analysed using multivariate analysis of variance/multivariate analysis of covariance, analysis of covariance and a paired-samples t test. It is hoped that this study can contribute to knowledge in the field of cognitive intervention and cognitive conflict strategy. The findings show that a high dose of cognitive intervention in CASE activities within a short period has an effect on the levels of students’ cognitive development, standard science achievement and constructive cognitive conflict.     

Facilitating problem solving in high school chemistry

The major purpose for conducting this study was to determine whether certain instructional strategies were superior to others in teaching high school chemistry students problem solving. The effectiveness of four instructional strategies for teaching problem solving to students of various proportional reasoning ability, verbal and visual preference, and mathematics anxiety were compared in this aptitude by treatment interaction study. The strategies used were the factor-label method, analogies, diagrams, and proportionality. Six hundred and nine high school students in eight schools were randomly assigned to one of four teaching strategies within each classroom. Students used programmed booklets to study the mole concept, the gas laws, stoichiometry, and molarity. Problem-solving ability was measured by a series of immediate posttests, delayed posttests and the ACS-NSTA Examination in High School Chemistry. Results showed that mathematics anxiety is negatively correlated with science achievement and that problem solving is dependent on students' proportional reasoning ability. The factor-label method was found to be the most desirable method and proportionality the least desirable method for teaching the mole concept. However, the proportionality method was best for teaching the gas laws. Several second-order interactions were found to be significant when mathematics anxiety was one of the aptitudes involved.     

The effects of a comprehensive teaching assistant training program on teaching anxiety and effectiveness

This experiment investigated the effects of a comprehensive teaching assistant (TA) training program on the teaching anxiety and effectiveness of TAs. Twenty-seven TAs in the English department of a research university were divided into experimental and control groups. Both groups participated in a one-week workshop and a sixteen-week theory and pedagogy course during a fall semester. TAs in the experimental group also participated in a consultant observation program and peer mentoring activities. Data resulting from the completed pretests and posttests for teaching anxiety and effectiveness were analyzed using either at-test or an analysis of covariance. Conclusions from the study include: (1) Declines in teaching anxiety for TAs in the experimental group were significantly greater. (2) Neither group of TAs improved in teaching effectiveness, as measured by general student evaluations. However, based on posttest means for these student ratings, the teaching effectiveness of the experimental group was rated significantly higher. (3) Student ratings of teaching effectiveness in composition for TAs in the experimental group were significantly higher. (4) There were no significant differences between pre- to posttest changes in the self-appraisals of teaching effectiveness for the groups.     

基于SystemView的通信原理实验教学体系

针对通信原理课程实验教学的现状和存在问题,提出构建基于SystemView的实验教学体系。新实验教学体系设置了基础验证型、综合设计型和研究创新型3个层次的实验,并以正交幅度调制(QAM)的实现为例给出仿真实例。实践表明,该实验教学体系增强了学生的学习兴趣,有利于大学生的创新能力和实践能力的培养。     

Studies in Social Perception: Objectivity

Abstract

A total of 107 high-school bookkeeping students were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The groups were evenly matched in terms of I.Q. and pre-test scores. The students in the control group were taught in the traditional manner using conventional instructional materials. The students in the experimental group were taught by means of programmed instructional materials. Both groups were then given three identical posttests. The scores of the experimental group were significantly greater on all three tests at the > .025, > .001, and > .001 levels. The experimental group also experienced a reduction in learning time of 43 percent. The study indicates that the use of programmed materials can individualize instruction in the classroom and can also be used effectively as homework.     

Some experiments in diagnostic teaching

Three teaching experiments are reported which study aspects of a diagnostic teaching methodology based on identifying key conceptual points and misconceptions, focusing on these, giving substantial open challenges, provoking cognitive conflict, and resolving it through intensive discussion. An experiment in the field of directional quantities showed a positive relation between the intensity of discussion and amount of learning; one on fractions and another on geometric reflections both showed — in comparison with individualized booklets, for which retention was very low — strikingly good two-month retention under the experimental teaching methods. The particular misconceptions found in each topic are also described.     

Teaching Behavior and Student Learning Outcomes in Dutch Mathematics Classrooms

Abstract

In this article I described the means of identifying teaching behaviors that have cognitive and affective learning effects on students who are taking a course in mathematics. This study was conducted on 50 mathematics teachers who were teaching in the eighth grade. I obtained the data on teaching behaviors through direct systematic observation. Multiple regression was used as the method of analysis. For the cognitive domain, the results showed that effective teaching behaviors are: (a) high-level questions put to a large group of students; (b) probing, followed by a correct student response; (c) teacher waiting after asking a question; (d) successful redirecting; and (e) all forms of positive acknowledgement. Effective teaching behaviors in the affective domain are: (a) all forms of teacher lecture/explanations; (b) probing, followed by correct student response; and (c) all forms of positive acknowledgement. More teaching behaviors have a positive effect on mathematical knowledge than have a positive effect on students’ attitude toward mathematics.     

The effectiveness of advance organiser model on students’ academic achievement in learning work and energy

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the advance organiser model (AOM) on students’ academic achievement in learning work and energy. The design of the study was quasi-experimental pretest–posttest nonequivalent control groups. The total population of the study was 139 students of three sections in Endabaguna preparatory school in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Two sections with equivalent means on the pretest were taken to participate in the study purposely and one section assigned as the experimental group and the other section assigned as the control group randomly. The experimental group was taught using the lesson plan based on the AOM, and the control group was taught using the lesson plan based on the conventional teaching method. Pretest and posttest were administered before and after the treatment, respectively. Independent sample t-test was used to analyse the data at the probability level of 0.05. The findings of the study showed that the AOM was more effective than the conventional teaching method with effect size of 0.49. This model was also effective to teach male and female students and objectives namely understanding and application. However, both methods were equally important to teach work and energy under the objective knowledge level.     

Learning collocations: Effects of online tools on teaching English adjective-noun collocations

Collocations are word combinations essential for achieving fluency in a given language. Considerable emphasis should therefore be placed on teaching collocations as a part of vocabulary instruction in language teaching. However, there is no current consensus on how best to teach collocations, and few studies have addressed the issue. This quasi-experimental study investigated the effectiveness of online tools for learning English adjective-noun collocations compared to learning collocations via traditional activities. A quasi-experimental design with a pretest and immediate and delayed posttests was applied to 53 participants (n = 25 for the control group; n = 28 for the experimental group). The test results reveal that participants in the experimental group who learned collocations with online tools performed significantly better on both immediate and delayed posttests, demonstrating the effectiveness of these tools on learning adjective-noun collocations.     

Using classroom discourse to understand a prospective mathematics teacher's developing practice

This is an interpretive study of a prospective mathematics teacher's emerging practice during the professional semester. A Vygotskian (Mind in Society, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1978 (Cole et al., Trans.; original work published 1934); Thought and Language, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1986 (Kozulin, Trans.; original work published 1934)) perspective was used to examine the nature of classroom discourse and its role in Mary Ann's (pseudonym) development while student teaching. Results indicate that early classroom discourse mediated Mary Ann's teaching toward a traditional paradigm of giving information. Moreover, her subsequent efforts to cultivate dialogic discourse generated conflict that positioned students as mediators of her practice. Ultimately, experiencing the power and diversity of students’ ideas contributed to shifts in Mary Ann's early forms of practice.     

History of Science as an Instructional Context: Student Learning in Genetics and Nature of Science

This study (1) explores the effectiveness of the contextualized history of science on student learning of nature of science (NOS) and genetics content knowledge (GCK), especially interrelationships among various genetics concepts, in high school biology classrooms; (2) provides an exemplar for teachers on how to utilize history of science in genetics instruction; and (3) suggests a modified concept mapping assessment tool for both NOS and GCK. A quasi-experimental control group research design was utilized with pretests, posttests, and delayed posttests, combining qualitative data and quantitative data. The experimental group was taught with historical curricular lessons, while the control group was taught with non-historical curricular lessons. The results indicated that students in the experimental group developed better understanding in targeted aspects of NOS immediately after the intervention and retained their learning 2 months after the intervention. Both groups developed similar genetics knowledge in the posttest, and revealed a slight decay in their understanding in the delayed posttest.     

分层次开放性实验教学模式探索

分层次开放性实验教学,是在基本技能实验、客观验证性实验和综合探究性实验三个层次上逐渐引入开放性实验教学的一种实验教学方式,是在学生熟练掌握基本实验技术和进行必要的科学实验研究训练基础上的开放性实验教学.符合认知规律、便于组织教学、促进能力培养是分层次开放性实验教学模式的突出特点.实施分层次开放性实验教学是改变传统教学方式的有效途径,是实现学生智能培养的重要手段.     

基于建构主义的教学策略探析

教学策略是现代教学论研究的新课题。基于建构主义的教学策略就是以促进学生建构良好的认知结构为主要目的的策略,其策略体系包括优化原有认知结构的策略、引发学生认知冲突的策略、教会学生认知加工方法的策略等。