The effect of metaconceptual teaching instruction on 10th grade students understanding of states of matter, self-efficacy toward chemistry, and the nature of metaconceptual processes


Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Matematik ve Fen Bilimleri Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Öğrenci: ZÜBEYDE DEMET KIRBULUT

Danışman: ÖMER GEBAN

Özet:

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of Metaconceptual Teaching Instruction (MTI) compared to Traditional Instruction (TI) on 10th grade students’ understanding and durability of states of matter concepts, self-efficacy toward chemistry, and to portray the nature of students’ metaconceptual processes and the change in students’ ideas of states of matter. There were 53 students in the experimental group instructed by the MTI and 49 students in the control group instructed by the TI. Three students from the experimental group were selected for case study to explore their metaconceptual processes and conceptual understanding. To examine the effect of treatment, States of Matter Diagnostic Test (SMDT) and Self-efficacy toward Chemistry (SETC) were administered to the students before and after the treatment. Treatment implementation continued for seven weeks. The instruments were also given eight weeks after the treatment. In case study design, the data were collected through video recordings of classroom discussions, audio recordings of group discussions, journal writings, and interviews. Quantitative data analysis was conducted using MANCOVA. It was found that there was a significant difference between groups on the posttest and retention-test scores of the SMDT and retention-test scores of the SETC on behalf of the experimental group. However, there was no significant difference between groups on the posttest scores of the SETC. In terms of the nature of metaconceptual processes, it was documented that the students who had few alternative conceptions mostly engaged in metaconceptual evaluation. Also, the students changed their ideas of states of matter.