Promoting Conceptual Change in Chemical Reactions and Energy Concepts through the Conceptual Change Oriented Instruction

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the conceptual change oriented instruction through demonstration over traditionally designed chemistry instruction on 10th grade students’ understanding of chemical reactions and energy concepts and their attitudes towards chemistry as a school subject. One of the groups was defined as control group in which students were taught by traditionally designed chemistry instruction (TDCI), while the other group defined as experimental group in which students were instructed by conceptual change oriented instruction through demonstrations (CCID). The results showed that CCID caused significantly better acquisition of the scientific conceptions related to chemical reactions and energy concepts than TDCI. Also, the results showed that there was a significant difference between post-test mean scores of students taught with CCID and those taught with TDCI with respect to their attitude toward chemistry as a school subject in favor of CCID.