Effect of inquiry strategies on students' acquisition as well as retention of basic concepts in electricity. (c2004)

Abstract

Research studies conducted about students' naive conceptions in simple DC circuits constantly revealed that students, across the board, hold common persistent alternative conceptions that are not compatible with the acceptable scientific explanation, yet survive formal instruction. Empirical findings encouraged science education researchers to suggest remedial constructivist-teaching approaches. However, little research was conducted on the effect of these approaches on the long-term retention of scientific concepts. In Lebanon, little research, if any, was conducted about this topic. This action research study attempted to investigate the effect of a constructivist inquiry-based approach on the acquisition of conceptual understanding as well as retention of basic concepts in electricity for a group of twelve Lebanese ninth graders. Fourteen tests were administered throughout the study to assess the evolution often participants' conceptions. At the end of the implementation phase, the instrument DIRECT V. 1.0 was used to measure acquisition of understanding. Four months later, the same test was administered again to measure retention. The findings revealed that most of the alternative conceptions and conceptual difficulties reported in the literature were found to exist amongst the participants. However, these conceptions varied substantially in their plausibility as well as in their resistance to conceptual change. Nevertheless, the results often immediate posttest showed that the implemented approach was successful in enhancing conceptual understanding of the DC circuit concepts. All students were able to achieve scores higher than the mean average of the DIRECT test. Furthermore, the results of the delayed testing revealed an overall regression of 4.8%, thus suggesting that the inquiry-based approach was adequately successful in fostering retention. Meanwhile, the findings revealed that not all students benefited equally from the inquiry-based approach to overcome their conceptual difficulties. Therefore, two students were selected as case studies to investigate and better understand the factors that affected their success in building a well-synthesized conceptual model for DC circuitry. These two students were interviewed and their work throughout the study was analyzed. The findings suggested that possessing good metacognitive skills and being able to cope with the requirements of a constructivist-learning environment were important factors that affected the students' success in building and applying a coherent conceptual model.