A comparison of the effectiveness of two teaching strategies in the modification of students' misconceptions in physics

URI
Thumbnail Image
Type
Thesis
Author
Chan, Chee Kai
Supervisor
Goh, Ngoh Khang
Abstract
An attempt was made to find out some of the misconceptions Singapore secondary school students have, in the area of force and gravity. A teaching strategy (TSII) adapted from the Generative Learning model (Wittrock and Osborne, 1983) was developed. A diagnostic instrument MQFG was constructed and vaildated to measure the effectiveness of the TSII as compared to the traditional teaching strategy of chalk and talk (TSI). A pre-test was administered to two groups of students of size 26 and 27. These students were secondary three students at the age of 15. They underwent 6 weeks of instruction, each group employing their different strategies. A post-test and a delayed post-test were then carried out for analyses. The results showed that TSII was more effective in helping students acquire the correct concepts and retain what they had learnt. The results also showed that there was no correlation between the students' misconceptions and the students' gender, nor with the students' family educational background. The responses of students to the questions of the instrument were examined and analysed. The implications of the results were discussed and suggestions for further studies were also made.
Date Issued
1992
Call Number
QC30 Cha
Date Submitted
1992