Poor academic performance in science is a problem in the world. Numbers of factors contribute to this academic performance. Secondary school learners, particularly those in grade 10 are experiencing problems in understanding simple electric circuits in Physical Sciences. Lack of exposure to practical work might be one of the factors that contribute to lack of understanding of simple electric circuit and inability to link what they learn in class with the outside world. For that reason, it is the purpose of this study to determine what grade 10 learners’ alternative conceptions in electricity are and to explore the impact of conceptual change model on grade 10 learners using simple electric circuits. The study further highlights a number of issues that lead to poor academic achievements in physical sciences. This study further provides the learning strategy in physical science for learners to improve their learning process of simple electric circuits. Four secondary schools from Mankweng cluster, Capricorn District of Limpopo Province were randomly selected to participate in this study. From these schools a sample of 136 learners of different sex were also randomly selected. Two survey instruments, an open-ended questionnaire and the Simple Electric Circuit Conceptual Test were used to collect data. The data was collected over a period of 3 weeks. Learners (in the experimental group) were taught the same electric circuit topics using Conceptual Change Model (CCM) while Regular Teaching Approach (RTP) was used in the control group. Data collected was analysed using descriptive analysis, ANOVA and ANCOVA. The explanations the respondents gave were analysed using nomothetic and ideographic analyses. Misconceptions were identified as one of the learning barriers. The results from the questionnaire also revealed that learners were willing to learn electric circuits’ concepts but they lacked effective learning strategies and techniques to enhance their academic performances. It was also established that learners could not relate what they had learnt on electric circuit with their daily experiences and that practical work was rarely conducted at most schools. The statistical results showed that when teaching simple electric circuits using Conceptual Change Model, there is equal improvement in academic results across all sexes. There was no significant difference between academic achievements of males and females taught using the Conceptual Change Model. / MEd (Natural Sciences Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Poor academic performance in science is a problem in the world. Numbers of factors contribute to this academic performance. Secondary school learners, particularly those in grade 10 are experiencing problems in understanding simple electric circuits in Physical Sciences. Lack of exposure to practical work might be one of the factors that contribute to lack of understanding of simple electric circuit and inability to link what they learn in class with the outside world. For that reason, it is the purpose of this study to determine what grade 10 learners’ alternative conceptions in electricity are and to explore the impact of conceptual change model on grade 10 learners using simple electric circuits. The study further highlights a number of issues that lead to poor academic achievements in physical sciences. This study further provides the learning strategy in physical science for learners to improve their learning process of simple electric circuits. Four secondary schools from Mankweng cluster, Capricorn District of Limpopo Province were randomly selected to participate in this study. From these schools a sample of 136 learners of different sex were also randomly selected. Two survey instruments, an open-ended questionnaire and the Simple Electric Circuit Conceptual Test were used to collect data. The data was collected over a period of 3 weeks. Learners (in the experimental group) were taught the same electric circuit topics using Conceptual Change Model (CCM) while Regular Teaching Approach (RTP) was used in the control group. Data collected was analysed using descriptive analysis, ANOVA and ANCOVA. The explanations the respondents gave were analysed using nomothetic and ideographic analyses. Misconceptions were identified as one of the learning barriers. The results from the questionnaire also revealed that learners were willing to learn electric circuits’ concepts but they lacked effective learning strategies and techniques to enhance their academic performances. It was also established that learners could not relate what they had learnt on electric circuit with their daily experiences and that practical work was rarely conducted at most schools. The statistical results showed that when teaching simple electric circuits using Conceptual Change Model, there is equal improvement in academic results across all sexes. There was no significant difference between academic achievements of males and females taught using the Conceptual Change Model. / MEd (Natural Sciences Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study is a two part research project that describes and evaluates the efforts of the researcher to bring change in Cyprus' educational system, in the field of simple electric circuits. The objective of the first part was the assessment and evaluation of Cypriot STVE students' perceptions about simple electric circuits. The objective of the second part was to measure the effectiveness that conceptual change model-based instructional activities designed by the researcher had on changing students' misconceptions about simple electric circuits towards scientifically accepted ideas. Transformative mixed methods research design was used consisting mainly from an one-group pre-test post-test design with Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test 1.2 as a research instrument, while interviews and field notes were used for triangulation. The findings showed that there was a significant improvement in students' understanding of simple electric circuit concepts that were taught using conceptual change model-based instructional activities. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

This study is a two part research project that describes and evaluates the efforts of the researcher to bring change in Cyprus' educational system, in the field of simple electric circuits. The objective of the first part was the assessment and evaluation of Cypriot STVE students' perceptions about simple electric circuits. The objective of the second part was to measure the effectiveness that conceptual change model-based instructional activities designed by the researcher had on changing students' misconceptions about simple electric circuits towards scientifically accepted ideas. Transformative mixed methods research design was used consisting mainly from an one-group pre-test post-test design with Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test 1.2 as a research instrument, while interviews and field notes were used for triangulation. The findings showed that there was a significant improvement in students' understanding of simple electric circuit concepts that were taught using conceptual change model-based instructional activities. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

Orientador: Jair Lopes Junior / Banca: Kester Carrara / Banca: Sérgio Dias Cirino / Resumo: O modelo de mudança conceitual,de reconhecida difusão na área do Ensino de Ciências,foi alvo de diversas críticas e revisões ao longo dos mais de vinte anos desde sua proposição inicial. oder-se-ia afirmar,no entanto,que tanto os proponentes do modelo quanto seus críticos apresentam um enfoque restritivo no tratamento das medidas comportamentais correspondentes à ocorrência ou não de mudança conceitual. Admite-se,como hipótese deste trabalho,que o Behaviorismo Radical propicia ferramentas capazes de uma avaliação da pertinência das críticas dirigidas ao modelo e da própria proposta de avaliação dos resultados obtidos através de sua utilização,tal como apresentada por seus proponentes . Para tanto, o presente trabalho concentrou ênfase na tentativa de,considerando estudos que ilustram a difusão posterior do modelo em trabalhos empíricos,descrever as medidas comportamentais que parecem fundamentar inferências sobre a ocorrência ou não da mudança conceitual,analisando se e como o tratamento de tais medidas foi considerado em alguns dos artigos que expressam uma revisão crítica do modelo Argumenta-se que tais artigos falham em descrever semelhanças e diferenças dos instrumentos e das interações que definem a obtenção das medidas comportamentais de conhecimentos prévios e posteriores à intervenção,bem como as intervenções intencionalmente planejadas e as condições de avaliação que sucedem a tais intervenções. / Abstract: The conceptual change model, well-known spread in Science Teaching, has been reviewed and criticized, since its initial proposal, for over twenty years. It could be argued, however, that either authors or critics present a restrictive view concerning the behavioral measures related to the absence or occurrence of conceptual change. The hypothesis within this paper is that Radical Behaviorism provides tools that can assess the pertinence of criticisms toward the model as well as the result evaluation proposal obtained from their application, as referred to by their proponents. Thus, the emphasis of this paper, taking into account studies that illustrate the posterior spreading of the model in empirical applications, is the attempt to describe the behavioral measures that seem to support inferences about the occurrence or absence of conceptual change, analyzing whereas and how the treatment of such measures were considered in some articles expressing a critical revision of the model. We understand that such articles have failed to describe similarities and differences concerning the instruments and interactions that define the achievement of behavioral measures from the knowledge (and not about responses) before and after the intervention, as well as intentionally planned interventions and the assessment conditions subsequent to the interventions. / Mestre

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied by computer-based interactive conceptual change text (CBICCT) on 11th grade students understanding of electrochemistry and attitude toward chemistry. The study was conducted in an anatolian high school in Ankara with two science classes with 66 students in May 2009. A quasi experimental design was used. The classes was assigned to groups / one as control group and the other as experimental group. While control group was given traditional instruction, experimental group was given conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied by CBICCT. Electrochemistry Concept Test (ECT) was administered before and after treatment and Attitude Toward Chemistry Scale (ATCS) was administered after treatment to collect data about students&rsquo / concepts about electrochemistry and attitude toward chemistry, respectively. To investigate possible covariates, Science Process Skills Test (SPST) was administered after treatment. The collected data were analyzed with two way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and two way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Gain scores of ECT was analyzed with two way ANCOVA when SPST scores controlled as covariate and the results showed that the experimental group developed significantly better understanding of concepts than control group. The results also showed that no mean difference between males and females, and no interaction effect between instruction method and gender were found. The analysis of ATCS showed that experimental group developed significantly more positive attitude toward chemistry than control group. However, no significant difference between males and females, and no significant interaction between method and gender in terms of attitude toward chemistry were found.

In this study, the effects of an explicit reflective intervention on Swaziland elementary preservice teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) were investigated. The factors that had an impact on the development of participants’ NOS views were also investigated. The intervention made use of de-contextualized and contextualized activities as well as historical narratives as contexts for reflecting about the empirical, creative, subjective as well as the tentative NOS. The intervention included a discussion of the relationships and differences between observations and inferences as well as scientific laws and theories in the context of the aforementioned learning activities. Participants were 24 elementary pre-service teachers enrolled for their final year of their three year teacher development programme. An adapted version of the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-Form C (VNOS-C) was used in conjunction with individual interviews, to assess the participants’ understanding of NOS at the beginning and conclusion of the intervention. At the end of the programme, data from interviews, concept maps and reflective journals of seven participants were analysed to ascertain their perceptions of the elements of the course and other factors that had an impact on their development of more informed NOS views. These participants were selected on the basis of their differential gains in NOS understanding. The data that was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques revealed that the intervention brought about significant gains in some participants’ understanding of NOS. Information obtained from the document analysis of journals and concept maps as well as exit interviews of the selected group revealed that the pre-service teachers’ development of more informed views was mediated by motivational and cognitive factors. These were the participants’ perception of the value of teaching and learning NOS, their views about teaching and learning science, and their ability to engage deeply with the NOS concepts as well as their epistemic beliefs. The explicit reflective attention to NOS as well as metacognitive strategies was reported by most of the selected participants as responsible for changes in their NOS views. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-04-07Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:32:15Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 chirinea_g_me_bauru.pdf: 517463 bytes, checksum: df83153ec432854159e0aa3bd3ea803d (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O modelo de mudança conceitual,de reconhecida difusão na área do Ensino de Ciências,foi alvo de diversas críticas e revisões ao longo dos mais de vinte anos desde sua proposição inicial. oder-se-ia afirmar,no entanto,que tanto os proponentes do modelo quanto seus críticos apresentam um enfoque restritivo no tratamento das medidas comportamentais correspondentes à ocorrência ou não de mudança conceitual. Admite-se,como hipótese deste trabalho,que o Behaviorismo Radical propicia ferramentas capazes de uma avaliação da pertinência das críticas dirigidas ao modelo e da própria proposta de avaliação dos resultados obtidos através de sua utilização,tal como apresentada por seus proponentes . Para tanto, o presente trabalho concentrou ênfase na tentativa de,considerando estudos que ilustram a difusão posterior do modelo em trabalhos empíricos,descrever as medidas comportamentais que parecem fundamentar inferências sobre a ocorrência ou não da mudança conceitual,analisando se e como o tratamento de tais medidas foi considerado em alguns dos artigos que expressam uma revisão crítica do modelo Argumenta-se que tais artigos falham em descrever semelhanças e diferenças dos instrumentos e das interações que definem a obtenção das medidas comportamentais de conhecimentos prévios e posteriores à intervenção,bem como as intervenções intencionalmente planejadas e as condições de avaliação que sucedem a tais intervenções. / The conceptual change model, well-known spread in Science Teaching, has been reviewed and criticized, since its initial proposal, for over twenty years. It could be argued, however, that either authors or critics present a restrictive view concerning the behavioral measures related to the absence or occurrence of conceptual change. The hypothesis within this paper is that Radical Behaviorism provides tools that can assess the pertinence of criticisms toward the model as well as the result evaluation proposal obtained from their application, as referred to by their proponents. Thus, the emphasis of this paper, taking into account studies that illustrate the posterior spreading of the model in empirical applications, is the attempt to describe the behavioral measures that seem to support inferences about the occurrence or absence of conceptual change, analyzing whereas and how the treatment of such measures were considered in some articles expressing a critical revision of the model. We understand that such articles have failed to describe similarities and differences concerning the instruments and interactions that define the achievement of behavioral measures from the knowledge (and not about responses) before and after the intervention, as well as intentionally planned interventions and the assessment conditions subsequent to the interventions.

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