The effect of the use of models in chemistry subject of science lesson in secondary schools on students' success

ABSTRACTThe aim of present study was to examine the effects on the success in science lesson, makingit to be loved by the students and developing a positive attitude to the science lesson given to thestudents using specially designed model based on the constructive approach including the topic of?Structure of the Atom? in the unit of ?Journey into the internal structure of matter? in science lesson ofstudents in 7th grade.The present study investigated the effects on the success of the students of the traditionaleducation and the education given by using the model directed to the approach to conceptual changebased on the constructive approach. Thus, experimental design was created using the pretest-posttestcontrol groups noted by Campbell and Julion to be applied successfully for educational purposes .The study was conducted in Atatürk and Cumhuriyet primary schools randomly chosen inDemirci County of Manisa City. An experimental group and a control group was made from thestudents of 7th grade of both schools.For the present study, the model was prepared containing the topic of ?Structure of the Atom?in the unit of ?Journey into the internal structure of the matter? in science lesson for 7th grade.Illustrations of atomic structure was prepared in the color-book format in which illustration and verbalexpressions were included.Before the material was used for the lesson, the students were divided into groups of 3, andthen the subject of ?Structure of the Atom? was given to the students for 6 lesson-hours using themethod of training through model containing the constructive approach methods. Study group of thepresent study consisted of 84 students attending on 7th grade of Atatürk and Cumhuriyet primaryschools in Demirci County of Manisa City in 2005-2006 educational season. A study design wasmade with experimental and control groups and both groups underwent a pretest containing the samequestions with high accuracy and reliability. In the experimental group, the topic of ?Atom and itsstructure? was given through the unique model based on the constructive approach. Upon completionof the lesson, both groups underwent posttest. 18 weeks after the posttest, both groups underwentrecalling test and the obtained results were analyzed using the SPSS software. Furthermore, a semi-constructed interview was made with the students chosen from the experimental and control groupsusing a special method.Findings obtained from data analysis were as follows: (1) The lesson given using the uniquemodel enhances the success of students. (2) The lesson given using the unique model enhances thelevel of the students to recall the subjects. (3) The lesson given using the unique model enhancesleads the students to comprehend the lesson.The results of the current study were as follows:• There was no significant difference between average pre-test scores of the experimentalgroup in the educational setting created with the models prepared based on the constructiveapproach and the control group consisting of the traditional educational setting. Levels of bothgroups to be prepared to the lesson were found to be similar. Equality of the both studygroups was affirmed by these findings.• There was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between average post-test scores of the experimental group in the educational setting created with the modelsprepared based on the constructive approach and the control group consisting of thetraditional educational setting. This finding showed that the lesson given using the uniquemodel was more effective than the traditional method in enhancing the success level of thestudents.• According to the results of recalling test applied 18 weeks after the topic of ?Structure of thethAtom? had been given to the students of 7 grade in the science lesson, recalling level of thestudents was found to be higher in the experimental group than in the students in the controlgroup. This, in turn, indicates that the method used in the current study based on theconstructive theory enhanced recalling level of the students compared to the lessons givenbased on the traditional educational methods. Controlled experiments were applied in bothschools and similar results were obtained.• It was observed that the instruction given using the unique model based on constructivetheory in teaching the topic of ?Structure of the Atom? in science lesson in 7th grade of primaryschools improved cognitive adequacy. During the interviews with the students, it wasobserved that the students in the experimental group could made scientific explanations andqueries for the questions requiring analysis, synthesis and evaluation whereas majority of thestudents in the control group couldn?t make such explanations, indicating that the traditionaleducational methods not only lowered the success level in scientific education but also failedto lead the students to gain a inquiring understanding containing the questions of ?why?? and?how??. The science lesson inherently requires high-level cognitive adequacies, and for agood science education, it is inevitable to provide the students with educational settings toimprove their such skills.KEYWORDS: Analogy, Atom, Conceptual learning, Conceptual Mistakes, Constructive Teaching,Model Application, Science Education