AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ABOUT THE TOPIC OF MIRRORS
Abstract
The purpose of the research was to analyze the conceptual
understanding of secondary school students about the topic of mirrors. In this
context, an answer was sought to the question, "What is the process of the
students' conceptual change?" The sample for the research comprised a
total of 46 students (24 girls, 22 boys) in two 10th-grade classes in a high
school in the city of Balıkesir, chosen by the cluster sampling method. A
"Concept Test," "Interviews," "Camera
Recordings," "Student Guidebooks" and "Meaning Analysis
Tables" were used in the data collection. The data analysis process made
use of "Situation Analysis Categories." The students' conceptual
change process was analyzed within the framework of the dimensions of
"Intelligibility," "Plausibility" and
"Fruitfulness." In the evaluation of the results of the analysis of
the students' state of conceptual change, it may be said that most of the
students had been unsatisfied with the concepts they had carried into the
learning process and that with the help of the experiments and activities they
performed, they found the new concepts and explanations
"intelligible," "plausible" and "fruitful" and
were then able to internalize the new scientific concepts and achieve
meaningful and permanent learning.
Keywords
Kaynakça
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