Conceptual change achieved through a new teaching program on acids and bases

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on students‘ achievement and misconceptions of new teaching material developed for the unit ‘acids and bases”. Also, the students‘ attitudes towards chemistry were explored. The new material included worksheets based on the conceptual conflict strategy. The sample consisted of eighty-eight students. The research was carried out with an experimental/control group design, and lasted for four weeks. Two instruments ‘The Concept Achievement Test” and ‘Chemistry Attitude Scale” were used to collect data before and after the study as pre-tests and post-tests. The results from the post-tests indicated that the students in the experimental group, taught with the new teaching material, showed significantly greater achievement in the unit than did the students in the control group. In addition, the experimental group had a significantly higher score than the control group with regard to their attitudes toward chemistry. This shows that the implementation of the new material produced better results both in terms of achievement and attitudes. The students‘ misconceptions in experimental group were less than the control group. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2005, 6 (1), 36-51]