Examination of Misconceptions Related to Melting and Dissolving on the Basis of Ontology
Journal Name:
- Amasya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi
Keywords (Original Language):
| Author Name | University of Author |
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Abstract (2. Language):
Problem Statement: An efficient science education is directly associated with the quality of conceptual
teaching which is implemented in science lessons. Conflicts and inconsistencies in students’ learning should be
revealed in order for a life-long and meaningful learning of the concepts to take place (Akgün, Gönen, &
Yılmaz, 2005). Students may have various misconceptions about a concept; however, the misconceptions of each
student may result from different characteristics or erroneous categorization. For this reason, the incorrect
ontological categorization from which misconceptions result should be determined. This is because many
misconceptions are the result of scientifically incorrect ontological categorization made by students. In the
literature, it is stated that students’ misconceptions are associated with their scientific reasoning skills and
students with high scientific reasoning skills have fewer misconceptions (Lawson & Thompson, 1988; Lawson
& Worsnop, 1992; Oliva, 2003). There are three levels: concrete operational, transitional and formal operational
and students will be at different levels. Therefore, when assessing their scientific reasoning levels, students at a
formal operational level will be expected to understand the concepts of melting and dissolving better than
students at a concrete operational level and to have fewer misconceptionsrelated to this subject.
Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the present study is to reveal university students’ misconceptions about
the subject of melting and dissolving and to examine these misconceptions on the basis of ontological categories.
It also aims to compare students’ misconceptions about the subject of melting and dissolving according to their
scientificreasoning levels.
Method(s): A total of 25 students from the Faculty of Education, Hacettepe University attending a General
Chemistry course in the Biology Education Department participated in the study. Five open-ended questions,
prepared according to experts’ opinions, and the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR) were used as
the data collecting instruments. According to the scores obtained from the CTSR, there were 7 students at a
concrete operational level and 9 students at both the transitional and formal operational level.
Findings and Discussions: When the students’ responses to the questions were examined, it was determined
that they had various misconceptions and the number of certain misconceptions was higher in students at the
concrete operational level. On the other hand, when students’ answers to the open-ended questions were
examined, it was determined that their misconceptions resulted from ontological categorizations they had made
which were ontologically wrong. It was determined that students had misconceptions as a result of a wrong
categorization between ontological categories.
Conclusions and Recommendations: When the students’ responses to the questions were examined, it was
determined that they had various misconceptions and the number of certain misconceptions was higher in
students at the concrete operational level. This is because students at the concrete operational level can only
understand concrete concepts while students at the formal operational level can understand both concrete and
abstract concepts (Lawson & Renner, 1975). For thisreason, students at the concrete operational level have more
misconceptions. There is a relationship between students’ misconceptions and their scientific reasoning skills (Lawson & Thompson, 1988; Lawson & Worsnop, 1992; Oliva, 2003). Students with a high scientific reasoning
level have fewer misconceptions than students with a low scientificreasoning level. This is also because students
with a high scientific reasoning level are more successful during conceptual changes (Lawson & Weser, 1990;
Oliva, 2003; Lee & She, 2010; She & Liao, 2010). When students’ answers to the open-ended questions were
examined, it was determined that their misconceptions resulted from ontological categorizations they had made
which were ontologically wrong. It was determined that students had misconceptions as a result of a wrong
categorization that they had made between the microscopic particle, which is a sub category of the substance
category, and the macroscopic substance. It was also determined that students misplaced the melting with
dissolving category in the event category, which is actually under the process category. Students attributed
concrete features to intermolecular bonds and put chemical bonds in the substance category instead of the
process category. For thisreason, they categorized the items incorrectly, whichresulted in the misconceptions.
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Abstract (Original Language):
Özet
Bu çalışmanın amacı, üniversiteöğrencilerinin erime ve çözünme konusunda sahip oldukları kavram
anılgılarını ortayaçıkarmak ve bu kavram yanılgılarını ontolojik kategoriler temelinde incelemektir. Ayrıca
ğrencilerin erime ve çözünme konusunda sahip oldukları kavram yanılgıları bilimsel düşünme düzeylerine göre
arşılaştırılmak istenmiştir. Çalışmaya Hacettepe ÜniversitesiEğitim Fakültesi BiyolojiEğitimi Anabilim
Dalında Temel Kimya dersini alan toplam 25öğrenci katılmıştır. Çalışmada veri toplama aracı olarak, uzman
örüşüne başvurularak hazırlanan beş açık uçlu soru ve Bilimsel Düşünme Yetenekleri Testi (BDYT)
ullanılmıştır. BDYT’den elde edilen puanlara göre somut operasyon döneminde 7, geçiş ve soyut operasyon
öneminde 9’aröğrenci bulunmaktadır.Öğrencilerin verdikleri cevapların analizi sonucuöğrencilerin erime ve
özünme konusunda çeşitli kavram yanılgılarına sahip oldukları belirlenmiştir.Öğrencilerin madde kategorisinin
lt kategorisi olan mikroskobik tanecik ile makroskobik madde kategorileri arasında yaptıkları yanlış
ategorileştirmeler sonucu kavram yanılgılarına sahip oldukları belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca süreç kategorisinin bir alt
ategorisinde yer alan olay kategorisindeki erime ve çözünme kategorilerinin deöğrenciler tarafından birbiriyle
arıştırıldıı belirlenmiştir.
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