Effects of Jigsaw on Teaching Chemical Nomenclature

Abstract

In this study, the objective was to determine the effects of the jigsaw on the academic achievements of the students in chemical nomenclature of the general chemistry course and to specify the student opinions with respect to the learning process. Research sampling was composed of the students of two different classes attending the general chemistry course at the department of secondary school science and mathematics education of a university in Turkey during 2008-2009 academic year by using an experimental pattern including a pre-test & posttest control group. At the end of the research, a positive difference was observed in favour of the experimental group between the academic achievements of the students to whom Jigsaw and traditional teaching method were applied. As a result of the semi-structured interviews with the students, students of the experimental group stated that “they did not think that they could be successful to this extent with the traditional teaching method”. Furthermore, incomplete information and frequent faults were observed in the students of both groups concerning the chemical nomenclature after their responses to the achievement test applied prior to and following the application were examined.