Evaluation of the effectiveness of conceptual change texts in the REACT strategy

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of conceptual change text (CCT) in the REACT strategy for students' conceptions of solutions. A quasi-experimental method was used in the study. The study was carried out in the spring term of the 2012–2013 academic year with 61 freshmen students (aged 18–20 years) studying in the Elementary Education Department. To gather data, the solutions concept test (SCT) was used as a pretest (PrT) and posttest (PoT) and clinical interviews were used to increase the validity of the data obtained from SCT. In the experimental and control groups, the REACT strategy was used as the teaching strategy. In the experimental group, the REACT strategy was enriched with CCTs. Three CCTs were used for the experimental group. According to the findings, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups' PrT and PoT results. The REACT strategy was found to be successful at dealing with the alternative conceptions in solution chemistry. However, no significant difference was found between the groups' PoT results. On the other hand, qualitative analyses showed that the CCTs were slightly effective in remediation of alternative conceptions in solution chemistry. This suggests that we may need to use more than one intervention model to effectively remedy the alternative conceptions in solution chemistry. This study may be helpful for diagnosing alternative conceptions and guide researchers to remedy them. Hence, CCTs can be designed for other chemistry topics for implementation in schools.