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The Comparative Effects of Prediction/DiscussionBased Learning Cycle, Conceptual Change Text and
Traditional Instructions on Student Understanding of
Genetics
by
Diba Yilmaz, Ceren Tekkaya & Semra Sungur (2011)
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
INTRODUCTION
Genetics - one of the most important and difficult topics of science
to learn.
Major reasons of students incomplete understanding of genetics
concepts lie under :
i.
the ontological differences between the levels
of genetics phenomena (Duncan & Reiser, 2007)
i.
abstract nature of concepts (Law & Lee, 2004)
ii. relatedness of these concepts to different levels
organizations (Marbach-Ad & Stavy, 2000).
of
Cont.
Individuals should have an understanding of basic concepts of
genetics in order to be effective scientific literate citizens in the
future.
Teaching strategies:
Prediction/Discussion-based Learning Cycle
(HPD-LC)
Conceptual Change Text (CCT)
Traditional Instruction (TI)
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the effect of HPD-LC instruction, CCT
instruction, and traditional instruction on eight-grade
students understanding and retention of genetics
concepts?
2. Is there a change in students' understanding of
genetics across the three time periods: before the
instruction, after the instruction, and one month after
the instruction?
METHOD
PARTICIPANTS:
i. Sample 81 Grade 8 (32 boys and 49 girls) students
Cont.
STUDY DESIGN:
i. Quasi-experimental design-Non-equivalent control group
ii. Dependent variable: students understanding of the unit of
genetics (Genetics Concept Test)
iii. Independent variable: time (Time 1, Time 2 and Time 3) and
mode of instruction (HPD-LC, CCT, and TI)
Cont.
INSTRUMENTS:
i. The Genetics Concept Test (GCT)
ii. Assesses students understanding of basic concepts of genetics
iii. 15 multiple-choice items (one correct answer and three
distracters)
iv. Content validity determined by experts in biology education,
science teacher and research assistant
v. The reliability coefficient
Richardson Formula 20)
Cont.
TREATMENT:
PREDICTION/DISCUSSION-BASED
LEARNING
CYCLE
(HPD-LC) INSTRUCTION
i. Two lesson was developed (basic terminology of genetics
and passing of traits, Mendelian genetics and genetics
crosses)
CONCEPTUAL CHANGE TEXT (CCT) INSTRUCTION
i. Covering basic terminology of genetics, Mendelian
genetics, inheritance, and genetics crosses
ii. Prepared by 1st author
iii. Considering 4 condition proposed by Posner et al. (1982)
TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION
RESULT
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics
DISCUSSION
HPD-LC and CCT instructions promoted better understanding of
the genetics concepts compared with the TI.
HPD-LC Attributed to several reasons:
Cont.
CCT explained as follows:
i. Were designed according to Posner et al (1982) four condition:
Dissatisfaction - students dissatisfied with their existing
knowledge
Intelligibility - students understand the meaning of the new
concept
Plausibility - students must find it believable
Fruitfulness - students can solve other problems using the
new concept
ii.
Cont.
These findings are consistent with the numerous studies:
i. investigating the effectiveness of the learning cycle (e.g.
Barman et al., 1996; Lavoie, 1999; Marek et al., 1994
Schneider & Renner, 1980) and conceptual text instruction
(e.g. Chambers & Andre, 1997; Wang & Andre, 1991) over TI
ii. (Lavoie, 1999) comparing the effects of HPD-LC and a
traditional learning cycle, HPD-LC was found to be more
effective than the traditional learning cycle in improving
conceptual understanding.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
CONCLUSION
THANK YOU