Developing and evaluating materials related to ``rate of chemical reactions? topic

The main aim of this study is to develop, implement and evaluate teacher guide materials based on four-step constructivist teaching model on rate of chemical reactions. The quasi-experimental research design was used in the study. The sample under investigation comprises of 41 grade 11 students who were drawn from different classes in a general high school in city the center of Rize. The classes in the schools were randomly determined as experimental group and control group. The data were gathered by means of Conceptual Understanding Test (CUT), Real Life Relating Test (RRT), unstructured observations and semi-structured interviews carried out with teacher and students. In experimental group teacher guide material based on four step constructivist teaching model was used for teaching the subject. In control group the subject were thought in the normal way. Conceptual Understanding Test and Real Life Relating Test were applied as pre test and post test to each groups. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and Mann Whitney U-Test were used to analyze the quantitative data. The qualitative techniques were used for the qualitative data. Significant differences were found in favor of the experimental group in terms of CUT and RRT. Also, a main reason not to understand the concept of chemical reactions was that students couldn?t comprehend adequately the micro level processes in reactions. In the observations and interviews, it is found that the students found the treatment interesting, realized the relation between chemistry and life and support the lasting learning. Based on the results some suggestions were made for researchers and educators.Key Words: Four-Step Constructivist Teaching Strategy, Rate of Chemical Reactions, Guide Materials, Effect, Success