The effect of 6th grade force and motion unit instruction based on multiple representations on students' conceptual understanding and metacognitive awareness

In this study, the effect of force and motion teaching based on multiple representations on the conceptual understanding and metacognitive awareness of 6th grade students was examined. The sample of the study consists of 74 secondary school 6th grade students studying in two secondary schools in Savaştepe and Bandırma districts of Balıkesir province in the 2021-2022 academic year. In this study, in which a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used, a mixed research method that combines qualitative and quantitative data was chosen. While the teaching of the force and motion unit was based on multiple demonstrations for the experimental group students, the control group students were taught as recommended in the secondary science curriculum. The data collection tools of the research are the four-stage conceptual understanding test, metacognition scale, readiness scale and semi-structured interview form. The four-stage conceptual understanding test of the research was developed by the researcher. The four- stage conceptual understanding test and the metacognitive awareness scale were applied to the experimental and control groups as a pre-test and post-test. As the four-stage concept test data were analyzed, several misconceptions about force and motion were identified, unlike the studies in the literature. After multiple representations teaching completed, the percentage of misconceptions in the experimental group decreased. When the effect of teaching based on multiple representations on students' metacognitive awareness is examined, there is no significant difference between the averages of the total scores obtained from the pre-test and post-test scores of the metacognition scale for the students in the experimental and control groups. However, it can be said that there is a significant difference between the averages of the metacognition scale scores of the students who participated in the study, without making any group distinctions, from the pre-teaching to the post-teaching.