The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied with analogies on eight grade students&rsquo / understanding of chemical bonding concepts. In addition, the effect of instruction on students&rsquo / attitude toward science as a school subject and the effect of gender difference on understanding of chemical bonding concepts were investigated.
Fifty eight-grade students from two classes of a science course taught by the same teacher in Bü / yü / kelç / i Nazim Belger Primary School in the 2010-2011 spring semesters participated in the study. The study included two groups which were selected randomly throughout three classes. One of the groups was defined as control group in which students were instructed by traditionally designed science instruction, while other group was defined as experimental group in which students were instructed by conceptual change texts oriented instruction accompanied with analogies. Chemical Bonding Concept Pre-Test was administered to both groups as a pre-test and Chemical Bonding Concept Post-Test was administered to both groups as a post-test in order to assess their understanding of concepts related to chemical bonding. Students were also given Attitude Scale Towards Science as a School Subject at the beginning and end of the study to determine their attitudes and Science Process Skill Test was used at the beginning of the study to measure their science process skills.
The hypotheses were tested by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that instruction based on constructivist approach caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific conceptions related to chemical bonding and produced significantly higher positive attitudes toward science as a school subject than the traditionally designed science instruction. Also, science process skill was a strong predictor in understanding the concepts related to chemical bonding. On the other hand, no significant effect of gender difference on understanding the concepts about chemical bonding and students&rsquo / attitudes toward science as a school subject was found.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12614212/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 February 2012 |
| Creators | Seker, Aytul |
| Contributors | Geban, Omer |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Ph.D. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | Access forbidden for 1 year |
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