The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative effects of prediction/discussion-based learning cycle (HPD-LC), conceptual change text (CCT), and traditional instructions (TI) on 8th grade students&rsquo / understanding of genetics concepts and on their perceived motivation and perceived use of learning strategies. This study was carried out during 2006-2007 fall semester at a public elementary school in Ankara. A total of eighty-one 8th grade students from three intact classes were involved in the quantitative part of this study. Students in the first and second experimental groups instructed with HPD-LC and CCT, respectively. The students in control group received TI. In the qualitative part, pre- and post-instructional interviews held with six students were interpreted by using a multidimensional interpretive framework of conceptual change. In this study the Genetics Concept Test was administered as pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test in order to examine the effects of instructional strategies on students&rsquo / genetics understanding and retention. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire was administered as pre-test and post-test to examine the effects of instructional strategies on students&rsquo / motivation and use of learning strategies. The results of mixed between-within subjects ANOVA revealed that students in both experimental groups understood the genetics concepts and retained their knowledge significantly better than students in control group. One-way MANOVA results revealed that HPD-LC students used elaboration strategies significantly more than CCT students. Interview analysis by considering ontological, epistemological, and social/affective perspectives of conceptual change indicated that some students from each group underwent conceptual change concerning the genetics concepts.

The present study mainly focuses on the effect of cooperative learning based on conceptual change conditions to remedy 11th grade students&rsquo / misconceptions related to reaction rate. Also, effect of this method on their motivation was investigated. A total of 110 eleventh grade students participated in the study. Two schools in Ankara and two classes being instructed by the same teacher in each school were included in the sample. One of the classes was randomly assigned as a control group instructed by traditional way and the other as an experimental group instructed by cooperative learning based on conceptual change conditions. This study was conducted on 2008-2009 first semester over six weeks. Reaction Rate Concept Test and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were administered as pre-test and post-test to measure students&rsquo / understanding of reaction rate, and their motivation. Moreover, Science Process Skill Test was given before instruction to decide whether there was a significant difference between two groups in their science process skills. ANCOVA was used to evaluate the effect of cooperative learning on students&rsquo / understanding of reaction rate. The results indicated that cooperative learning based on conceptual change conditions removed most of students&rsquo / misconceptions about reaction rate concept and resulted in a significantly better understanding of reaction rate than traditional instruction. Furthermore, data reflecting the effect of conceptual change based cooperative learning on students&rsquo / motivation was analyzed by MANOVA. According to the results, cooperative learning based on conceptual change conditions improved intrinsic goal orientation, and self-efficacy for learning and performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine instructional experiences of students with visual impairment in an guided inquiry-based science classroom. Drawing from social constructive perspectives about teaching and learning, I focused on the initial attempts of students to participate fully in an inquiry-based astronomy unit. The astronomy unit incorporated features of project-based science inquiry and aligned with national standards. This study described the opportunities provided to and challenges faced by students with visual impairment as they participated in the guided inquiry-based learning environment. Additionally, discursive practices of students including student-generated questions, student discussions, and students' science notebook writing were examined. Also, students' alternative conceptions about scientific phenomena and changes in students' thinking during the course of instruction, if any, were described. Methods of data collection included classroom observations, video records, pre- and post- curriculum assessments, attitudes toward science measurement, student interviews, and student artifacts (i.e., science notebook entries, student-constructed models). Findings showed that student learning was enhanced when the instructor-researcher guided students in accomplishing inquiry tasks and in making sense of their inquiry experiences. Additionally, the use of appropriate reflective prompts assisted students with visual impairment to fully participate in the writing tasks of the inquiry-based learning environment. Results suggested that the quantity and quality of student-generated questions increased with extended inquiry instruction. Also, students used questions to not only establish verbal communication, but to elaborate on their own thinking and expand or explain the thinking of others. Findings suggested also that students with visual impairment have similar alternative frameworks about scientific phenomena (i.e, causes of lunar phases, reason for the seasons) as do their peers with sight. This study contributes to the literature about inquiry-based instructional strategies for all students and initiates the conversation about best practice for science instruction with students with visual impairment.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">This study looks at the effect of a cross-cultural instructional approach on the learners&rsquo / conceptions of lightning and attitude towards science. It explored Basotho conceptions of lightning and thunder under the following themes: nature of lightning, protection against lightning, animalistic/humanistic behaviour of lighting and nature of wounds inflicted by lightning.</p> </font></p>

The cognitive models that research on conceptual change has generated have been the subject of criticism, suggesting that these reflect an unrealistic view of learning as an overly “cold” and isolated process. Accordingly, representatives of this criticism suggest that research on conceptual change should investigate to what extent the cold cognition relates to “warm” affective constructs. In the present thesis, the warmth is not considered as prior to conceptual change, but is inferred from the very process of conceptual change itself. The aim is to investigate and describe how this warmth – in terms of normativity – is expressed in conceptual change and how individuals, in these processes, emerge as subjects in their interchange with the environment. This is done by exploring what students do when they make meaning of gender and nation in interviews and exam papers. The results show that the students mainly relate to two different norm-systems, including six normative aspects of conceptual change. The first system includes the goal to challenge or emancipate, the means to problematize, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes critical theory as an ideal, social structures and power as values, and me as a social being and actions as part of a tradition as what to make meaning of. The second system includes the goal to preserve, the means to claim how it “is”, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes psychological/biological reductionism as an ideal, essences and a natural order as values, and me as an individual and actions as an outcome of intentions as what to make meaning of. By understanding what the students do as interfering with these normative aspects, it becomes possible to understand them as negotiating norms that are brought to the fore. With this, “coldness” appears to be a misleading epithet of conceptual change. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

Sociologists and feminist researchers have emphasized the prevalence of taken for granted notions about political concepts. Nation and gender are examples of concepts that are often perceived as non-political and “natural”. Researchers have understood these concepts as related to self-perception, and studies have demonstrated that students tend to perceive gender perspectives as pseudoscientific. From an educational perspective, this raises questions as to how values are involved in students’ learning processes. Over the last 20 years, an increasing number of researchers have characterized conceptual change as affective in nature. However, few empirical studies have put effort into investigating affective aspects of the conceptual change process. This thesis adds to this research discussion by offering an empirically rooted conceptualisation of the value-oriented dimension of the learning process. The thesis is based on three empirical studies that investigate how students interpret tasks challenging them to adopt a critical and structural perspective of ‘nation’ and ‘gender’. Drawing on qualitative analyses of tape-recorded group discussions and written home exams, the thesis argues that students bring in other ideas than those advocated in the specific teaching settings with regard to three topics. Firstly, students express values relating to power, meaning when and how it is legitimate to speak about power. Secondly, students express values that concern how science should be practised. Thirdly, students express values related to identity that revolve around how “I” relate (or not) to the concepts taught in the particular course setting. These results suggest that students enter the classroom with personal ideas and principles of what is “good” or “right” when practising political science, and that values can be seen as a key aspect in understanding the complexities of students’ learning processes in this particular subject area. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Accepted. Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

In this study, a comparison of the effectiveness of conceptual change oriented instruction with traditionally designed chemistry instruction and an investigation of the effect of gender difference were made on ninth grade students&rsquo / understanding of phases and phase changes concepts. In addition, the effects of these instructional methods on students&rsquo / attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject were compared. In this study 56 ninth grade students from two classes of a chemistry course instructed by the same teacher from Ankara Atat&uuml / rk Anatolian Lycee in 2003-2004 educational year&rsquo / s first semester took part. The classes were randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. The experimental group was instructed by conceptual change oriented method with conceptual change texts supported by demonstration, whereas the control group was instructed by traditionally designed method over a period of three weeks. Both groups were administered to Phases and Phase Changes Achievement Test as pretest and posttest in order to assess students&rsquo / understanding of phases and phase changes concepts. Additionally, Science Process Skills Test was given before the treatment to measure students&rsquo / science process skills and Attitude Scale toward Chemistry as a School Subject was given after the treatment to determine their attitudes. The hypotheses were tested using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), paired samples t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results of this study indicated that conceptual change oriented instruction caused a significantly better understanding of phases and phase changes concepts / that males had fewer alternative conceptions than females on phases and phase changes / and that science process skills were strong predictors of understanding in phases and phase changes concepts. On the other hand, no significant difference between conceptual change oriented instruction and traditionally designed chemistry instruction / and no effect of gender difference on students&rsquo / attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject were found.

This research is a practitioner inquiry into change in concepts in contexts of task based discourse in teacher education classrooms. The particular concepts selected for study are epistemic beliefs about knowledge in history. A hypothesis that there is a relationship between a perception of agency in task based discourse and change in concepts is proposed for research on the basis of a review of Kuhn's arguments for paradigm change and those of others on the problems of convergence of meaning between paradigms.1 Four of five quasi experimental studies conducted find tentative support for the alternative hypothesis and demonstrate how the relationship could be tested in the field. Change in epistemic beliefs from pre-test to post-test is significant in both groups, Control and Experimental, and consistently more and better change with moderate effect sizes is seen in the Experimental groups. A matched pedagogical method, experience of a range of suitable examples, Skemp (1971) was provided to both Control and Experimental groups and this is found to be effective in developing beliefs. The experimental construct, a perception of agency in task based discourse was enhanced in Experimental groups alone, which is used to explain the difference in change. A rubric, the Categories of Beliefs about Knowledge in History, CBKH, is developed and employed to examine responses to open ended questions. Likert Scales are also used and conclusions are drawn with a final quantitative analysis of data. Excerpts from a focus group discussion illustrate the process.

abstract: Conceptual change has been a large part of science education research for several decades due to the fact that it allows teachers to think about what students' preconceptions are and how to change these to the correct scientific conceptions. To have students change their preconceptions teachers need to allow students to confront what they think they know in the presence of the phenomena. Students then collect and analyze evidence pertaining to the phenomena. The goal in the end is for students to reorganize their concepts and change or correct their preconceptions, so that they hold more accurate scientific conceptions. The purpose of this study was to investigate how students' conceptions of the Earth's surface, specifically weathering and erosion, change using the conceptual change framework to guide the instructional decisions. The subjects of the study were a class of 25 seventh grade students. This class received a three-week unit on weathering and erosion that was structured using the conceptual change framework set by Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1982). This framework starts by looking at students' misconceptions, then uses scientific data that students collect to confront their misconceptions. The changes in students' conceptions were measured by a pre concept sketch and post concept sketch. The results of this study showed that the conceptual change framework can modify students' preconceptions of weathering and erosion to correct scientific conceptions. There was statistical significant difference between students' pre concept sketches and post concept sketches scores. After examining the concept sketches, differences were found in how students' concepts had changed from pre to post concept sketch. Further research needs to be done with conceptual change and the geosciences to see if conceptual change is an effective method to use to teach students about the geosciences. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

Magister Educationis - MEd (Mathematics and Science Education) / The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the teaching of electric circuits in Grade 10 Physical Sciences using a conceptual change approach would enhance learners' understanding of the concept. The conceptual change approach is a process whereby concepts and relationships between concepts change over the course of an individual's lifetime. The process whereby conceptual change occurs is of central interest in helping to understand the process of learning, and is also important when considering the design of instruction. The study was conducted at a secondary school in a small town in the Karoo. Purposive sampling was used to select the sample of a Physical Science Grade 10 class. A mixed method approach was used to observe the effectiveness of the conceptual change approach - four conditions must exist before a conceptual change is likely to occur: (1) assess learners' dissatisfaction with their existing concepts; (2) the new concept must become intelligible; (3) the new concept must appear plausible; and (4) the new concept must be fruitful. All learners' total scores for the pre-test and post-test were calculated and recorded and total scores were statistically analyzed. This study could provide means to improve science teaching and learning. The learners were assisted to discover what was not clear to them, they were encouraged towards deeper understanding and to use their own knowledge to make sense of new concepts. The conceptual change approach could be used effectively by the teachers as it will assist to remove misconceptions learners have prior to the learning of new science concepts.