The Contribution of Constructivist Instruction Accompanied by Concept Mapping in Enhancing Pre-service Chemistry Teachers' Conceptual Understanding of Chemistry in the Laboratory Course

Aydın S., Aydemir N., BOZ Y., Cetin-Dindar A., BEKTAŞ O.

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY, vol.18, no.6, pp.518-534, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 18 Issue: 6
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10956-009-9167-1
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.518-534
  • Keywords: Chemistry education, Pre-service teachers, Concept map, Conceptual understanding, Pre-service teacher education, CONCEPT MAPS, PARTICULATE NATURE, GENERAL-CHEMISTRY, VAPOR-PRESSURE, STUDENTS, SCIENCE, MISCONCEPTIONS, ELECTROCHEMISTRY, MATTER, CLASSROOM
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate whether a chemistry laboratory course called "Laboratory Experiments in Science Education" based on constructivist instruction accompanied with concept mapping enhanced pre-service chemistry teachers' conceptual understanding. Data were collected from five pre-service chemistry teachers at a university in Ankara by means of a concept test and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that pre-service teachers had some alternative conceptions about chemistry topics. Moreover, using constructivist instruction accompanied with concept maps as an instructional tool was effective to promote conceptual understanding. Participants thought that concept maps were useful especially in recognizing the relation between different chemistry concepts.