using the science writing heuristic approach to promote student

237 Pages·2011·2.3 MB·English

USING THE SCIENCE WRITING HEURISTIC APPROACH TO PROMOTE
STUDENT UNDERSTANDING IN CHEMICAL CHANGES AND MIXTURES

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

SEVGİ KINGIR

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
SECONDARY SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

FEBRUARY 2011
Approval of the thesis:

USING THE SCIENCE WRITING HEURISTIC APPROACH TO PROMOTE
STUDENT UNDERSTANDING IN CHEMICAL CHANGES AND
MIXTURES

submitted by SEVGİ KINGIR in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Secondary Science and Mathematics
Education Department, Middle East Technical University by,

Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen
Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban
Head of Department, Secondary Science and Mathematics Education
Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban
Supervisor, Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Dept., METU
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Günel
Co-Supervisor, Elementary Education Dept., Ahi Evran University

Examining Committee Members:

Prof. Dr. Ayhan Yılmaz
Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Dept., HU
Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban
Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Dept., METU
Prof. Dr. Hamide Ertepınar
Elementary Education Dept., METU
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esen Uzuntiryaki
Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Dept., METU
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yezdan Boz
Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Dept., METU

Date: 07.02.2011
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare
that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced
all material and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name: Sevgi KINGIR

Signature :

iii
ABSTRACT
USING THE SCIENCE WRITING HEURISTIC APPROACH TO PROMOTE
STUDENT UNDERSTANDING IN CHEMICAL CHANGES AND MIXTURES

Kıngır, Sevgi
Ph.D., Secondary Science and Mathematics Education
Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban
Co-Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Günel

February 2011, 219 pages

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of Science Writing
Heuristic (SWH) approach on 9th grade students’ understanding of chemistry
concepts and chemistry achievement in chemical changes and mixtures units. Four
9th grade classes taught by the two chemistry teachers from a public high school were
selected for the study. Each teacher’s one intact class was assigned as the
experimental group and the other class was assigned as the control group. Students in
the experimental group were instructed by the SWH approach, while those in control
groups were instructed with traditionally designed chemistry instruction. Tests
measuring students’ conceptual understanding and achievement in the units of
chemical changes and mixtures were administered as pre-test and post-test to
students in both groups, and a test measuring students’ attitudes toward chemistry
was administered to students in both groups at the beginning of the instruction. At
the end of the instruction, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13
students from experimental group and 8 students from control group. The
quantitative data were analyzed by using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance
iv
(MANCOVA). The results revealed that the SWH approach was superior to the
traditional approach on students’ understanding of the concepts in the units of
chemical changes and mixtures. In addition, interview results indicated that students
in experimental group demonstrated better scientific understanding of chemical
change and mixture concepts compared to those in control group. The interview
results also showed that students in experimental group developed positive attitudes
toward chemistry and SWH approach.

Keywords: Science writing heuristic approach, chemistry education, 9th grade
students

v
ÖZ
ARGÜMANTASYON TABANLI BİLİM ÖĞRENME YAKLAŞIMININ
ÖĞRENCİLERİN KİMYASAL DEĞİŞİM VE KARIŞIM KAVRAMLARINI
ANLAMALARINI SAĞLAMADA KULLANILMASI

Kıngır, Sevgi
Doktora, Ortaöğretim Fen ve Matematik Alanları Eğitimi Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi : Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban
Ortak Tez Yöneticisi : Doç. Dr. Murat Günel

Şubat 2011, 219 sayfa

Bu çalışmanın amacı Argümantasyon Tabanlı Bilim Öğrenme (ATBÖ) yaklaşımının
9. sınıf öğrencilerin kimyasal değişim ve karışımlar ünitelerindeki kimya
kavramlarını anlama düzeylerine ve kimya başarılarına etkisini geleneksel kimya
öğretim yöntemine kıyasla incelemektir. Bir genel lisede iki öğretmenin girdiği dört
sınıf araştırmanın örneklemini oluşturmaktadır. Her öğretmenin bir sınıfı rastgele
deney grubu olarak diğeri ise kontrol grubu olarak atanmıştır. Deney gruplarındaki
öğrencilere ATBÖ yaklaşımı kullanılarak kimyasal değişim ve karışımlar konuları
öğretilirken kontrol grubu öğrencilerine aynı konular geleneksel kimya öğretim
yaklaşımı kullanılarak öğretilmiştir. Araştırmanın başlangıcında hem deney grubu
hem de kontrol grubu öğrencilerine kimyasal değişim ve karışımlar konularında
kavramsal anlamalarını ölçen bir kavram testi ve yine bu konulardaki başarılarını
ölçen bir başarı testi uygulanmıştır. Bu testler aynı zamanda araştırma sonunda her
iki gruptaki öğrencilere son-test olarak verilmiştir. Öğrencilerin kimyaya yönelik
tutumlarını ölçen test bütün gruplara öğretimin başında uygulanmıştır. Araştırmanın
bitiminde deney grubundan 13, kontrol grubundan da 8 öğrenci ile yarı-
vi
yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Araştırmadan elde edilen nicel veriler Çok
Değişkenli Kovaryans Analiz (MANCOVA) yöntemi kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir.
Sonuçta, geleneksel yönteme kıyasla, ATBÖ yaklaşımının 9. sınıf öğrencilerin
kimyasal değişim ve karışım kavramlarını anlama düzeylerinde daha etkili olduğu
bulunmuştur. Ayrıca, görüşmeden elde edilen sonuçlara göre deney grubundaki
öğrencilerin kontrol grubundakilere kıyasla kimyasal değişim ve karışım
kavramlarını anlamalarının daha iyi olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Görüşme sonuçları,
deney grubundaki öğrencilerin hem kimya dersine hem de ATBÖ yaklaşımına
yönelik olumlu tutumlar geliştirdiklerini de göstermiştir.

Anahtar kelimeler: Argümantasyon tabanlı bilim öğrenme yaklaşımı, kimya eğitimi,
9. sınıf öğrencileri
vii
To My Family

viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Prof. Dr. Ömer
Geban and co-supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Günel, for their guidance, advice,
criticism, encouragements and insight throughout the entire process. I would also like
to acknowledge my other committee members Prof. Dr. Ayhan Yılmaz, Prof. Dr.
Hamide Ertepınar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esen Uzuntiryaki, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yezdan
Boz for their valuable feedback and suggestions.
I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Brian Hand, for his endless encouragement,
guidance, creative ideas, and support during my visiting time at University of Iowa. I
am also thankful to graduate students at University of Iowa, for their valuable
friendship, concern, and encouragement during my visit.
I would also express my deepest gratitude to my parents, Melek Kıngır and
Yusuf Kıngır, sisters Elif and Nezahat, brothers Ahmet and Osman for their endless
love and support throughout my life. My special thanks go to my teacher Mustafa
Kemal Özkan for his valuable encouragement throughout my academic life.
I would like to express my thanks to all my friends and colleagues at Middle
East Technical University. I am thankful to Nurdane and Murat Aydemir for their
endless friendship, and their editing and formatting of the thesis, Cansel Kadıoğlu,
Kübra Eryurt and Gülsüm Gül Cömert for their valuable support and encouragement.
I would also like to thank teachers, students, and school administrators who
have enabled me to conduct this research.
I would also like to thank Faculty Development Program (ÖYP), and
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for their
financial support for this research.

ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv
ÖZ ............................................................................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. x
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xiv
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xvi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................. xvii
CHAPTERS
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1
1.1 The Main Problem and Sub-Problems ................................................... 6
1.1.1 The Main Problem ..................................................................... 6
1.1.2 The Sub-Problems ..................................................................... 6
1.1.3 Hypotheses ................................................................................ 7
1.2 Definition of Important Terms ............................................................... 9
1.3 Significance of the Study ..................................................................... 10
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 13
2.1 Misconceptions .................................................................................... 13
x