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Conceptual Change with Refutational Map Qing Liu. 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N. Misconceptions. Students often develop their perceptions about natural phenomena before taking courses (Posner et al, 1982) .
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1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N Misconceptions • Students often develop their perceptions about natural phenomena before taking courses (Posner et al, 1982). • “Misconceptions” (Fisher, 1985) or “Alternative conceptions” (Arnaudin & Mintzes, 1985) are those perceptions inconsistent with scientific viewpoints. • Misconceptions are barriers to learning of science (Zietsman & Hewson, 1986). (1) Misconceptions are resistant to change. (2) Students rely on misconceptions to learn new concepts.
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N Conceptual Change Model • Conceptual change is a learning process in which learners’ misconceptions are transformed to more scientific conceptions. • Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog (1982) proposed a Conceptual Change Model (CCM) to explore how learners change their misconceptions through an interaction between previous and new concepts. (1) Dissatisfaction (2) Intelligibility (3) Plausibility (4) Fruitfulness • Cognitive conflict is a necessity.
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N Conceptual Change Strategies • Traditional science textbooks may not be effective to promote students’ conceptual change (Guzzetti et al, 1993, Woloshyn et al, 1994). • Refutational text is a text structure that directly contrasts scientific concepts with commonly held misconceptions (Hynd & Alvermann, 1986). (1) the explication of an inaccurate conception (2) a refutation of that misconception • Conceptual change text differs from refutational text in that readers are asked to make predictions about the particular situation.
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N Concerns on Learning from Texts • Students often have difficulties in learning textual information (Griffin & Tulbert, 1995; Taylor, 1985; Winograd, 1984). • Comprehension of textual information is a complicated and dynamic process. • Text reading is too memory intensive. • Many students are not able to build meaningful representations of information.
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N Graphic Organizer • The term graphic organizer commonly refers to two-dimensional visual knowledge representations, which display the conceptual organization of text (Alvermann, 1981; Ives & Hoy, 2003; Winn, 1991). • Concept map: studying concept is more effective for retaining knowledge (Nesbit & Adesope, 2006). • Argument map: learning argument map could increase memory for arguments (Dwyer, Hogan, and Stewart, 2010).
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N Concerns on Learning from Graphic Organizers • It may deprive readers of initiative in processing study materials and frame the way readers interact with texts (Tzeng, 2010). • It may sacrifice the effortful elaborative processing attributed to long-term retention and comprehension (Robinson & Schraw, 1994). • Students unfamiliar with learning from node-link visual displays may become the victims of map shock (Dansereau, Dees, & Simpson, 2004). • Refutational Map?
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N • Refutational Map • The refutational map used in this study, as a type of argument map, is a box-and-arrow diagram with boxes corresponding to ideas and arrows corresponding to relationships. • The arrows were marked with + or – signs to imply whether the relations were supportive (+) or unsupportive (–).
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N • Individual Difference Variables • Need for Cognition • It reflects the extent to which people engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities. • It has been found to be related to efficiency in processing conflicting information (Kardash & Scholes, 1996). • Logical Thinking Ability • It implies students’ cognitive development level. • A large number of studies in science education has reported significant relationships between formal reasoning ability and students’ achievement (Lawson, 1985; Nagy & Griffiths, 1982).
1. • I • N • T • R • O • D • U • C • T • I • O • N • Research Purpose This thesis investigates whether refutational maps could combine the features of refutational texts and graphic organizers to promote conceptual change.
2. • R • E • S • E • A • R • C • H • Q • & • H • Research Questions • Does explicit discussion of misconceptions lead to better learning outcomes? • What are cognitive effects of refutational map? Specifically, do students who study refutational map show conceptual change similar to students who study refutational text? • Will individual differences in logical thinking ability influence students’ conceptual change? • Will logical thinking ability interact with the way in which information is presented? • Will individual differences in need for cognition influence students’ conceptual change?
P A R T I C I P A N T S 3. M E T H O D • Participants • Eligibility: demonstrating misconceptions about the motion of objects in screening test. • Number: 164 —>120 • Questionnaire: • Demographic questionnaire • Need for Cognition Scale (18 items) (Caccioppo and Petty, 1982) • Test of Logical Thinking (Tobin and Capie, 1981) • Random assignment into one of the three groups: 1. NRT: non-refutational text group (n=40) 2. RT: refutational text group (n=40) 3. RM: refutational map group (n=40)
M A T E R I A L S & I N S T R U M E N T S 3. M E T H O D • Learner-Paced Refutational Map • The refutational map was transformed from the refutational text. • The display of refutational map was designed as a learner-controlled animation to avoid map shock.
M A T E R I A L S & I N S T R U M E N T S 3. M E T H O D • Learner-Paced Texts • The two texts were adapted from the versions used in earlier studies (Alverman & Hynd, 1989). • Non-refutational text: only describes Newton’s ideas of motion • Refutational text: contrasts Newton’s ideas of motion to the misconceptions • The refutational and non-refutational texts were of similar length (611 words and 603 words, respectively). • A learner-paced animation was used to present either the refutational text or the non-refutational text.
M A T E R I A L S & I N S T R U M E N T S 3. M E T H O D • Outcome Tests 1. Free Recall Test Write everything they can remember from the reading materials in complete sentences but not to worry about spelling and grammar. 2. Transfer Essay Test (5 questions) Four questions were used in earlier studies (Alverman & Hynd, 1989) 3. Multiple-Choice Test (9 questions) Nine questions were drawn from the Force Concept Inventory (Hestenes et al. 1992; Mazur 1997)
P R O C E D U R E 3. M E T H O D • Procedure 1. Screening Test 2. Questionnaire • Demographic Questionnaire • Need for Cognition Scale • Test of Logical Thinking 3. Read Treatment-Specific Materials 4. Sudoku Puzzle 5. Free Recall Test 6. Transfer Essay Test 7. Multiple Choice Test
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • Types of Data Collected • Demographic data • Scores on the Need for Cognition Scale • Scores on the Test of Logical Thinking • Time spent on texts or map reading • Scores on the free recall test • Scores on the transfer essay-type questions • Scores on the transfer multiple-choice questions
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • Test of Equivalence • ANOVA: no statistically significant difference was found among three groups in • age, p =.63 • reading time, p =.13 • need for cognition, p =.63 • test of logical thinking, p =.32.
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • Correlations
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • The Analyses of Outcome Tests • 2×3 MANOVA • DV: overall outcome tests (free recall, transfer essay and MC) • Results: • No Interaction: p = .08, ηp2= .05. • Main effect of treatment readings: p = .001, ηp2= .09. • Main effect of logical thinking abilities: p < .001, ηp2= .20
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • The Analyses of Free Recall Test • 2 (Logical: low vs. high)×3 (Reading: NRT vs. RT vs. RM) ANOVA • DV: free recall test • No Interaction: p = .25. • The effect of treatment readings: p < .001, ηp2= .15 • The effect of logical thinking: p < .001, ηp2= .17. • Participants with higher logical thinking ability (M = 11.90, SD =4.83) did much better in the free recall test than those with lower logical thinking ability (M = 7.47, SD =5.05).
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • The Analyses of Multiple-Choice Test • Cronbach’s alpha = .68 • 2 (Logical: low vs. high)×3 (Reading: NRT vs. RT vs. RM) ANOVA • DV: multiple-choice test • No interaction: p = .55. • The effect of treatment readings: p = .39. • The effect of logical thinking: p = .10.
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • The Analyses of Transfer Essay Test • Cronbach’s alpha = .71 • 2 (Logical: low vs. high)×3 (Reading: NRT vs. RT vs. RM) ANOVA • DV: transfer essay test • Interaction: p =.03, ηp2= .06. • The effect of treatment readings: p = .05, ηp2= .05. • The effect of logical thinking: p < .001, ηp2= .13. • Students with higher logical thinking ability performed better (M = 11.51, SD = 3.11) than those demonstrating lower logical thinking ability (M = 8.46, SD = 4.47).
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • The Interaction between Refutational Map and Logical Thingking • Participants with higher logical thinking ability performed equally well on the transfer essay questions across the three reading groups, p = .40. • For those demonstrating lower-level logical thinking ability, treatment-specific readings contributed to a statistically significant difference in the transfer essay scores, p =.008, ηp2= .14.
4. D A T A A N A L Y S I S • The Interaction between Refutational Map and Logical Thingking
5. D I S C U S S I O N • Results • Studying refutational map conduced to superior overall learning outcomes? • Participants reading refutational map significantly outperformed the other two groups in the free recall test. • In the transfer essay test, the refutational map group did as well as the refutational text group, and did much better than the non-refutational text group. • Unexpectedly, the performance of participants across the three reading groups did not differ significantly in the multiple-choice test. • Participants reading refutational text and those learning non-refutational text did not perform differently in either the free recall test or the transfer essay test.
5. D I S C U S S I O N • Results • Individual difference in logical thinking influenced participants’ conceptual change. • Participants with higher logical thinking ability outperformed those lower in logical thinking ability in both the free recall and transfer essay tests. • Lower level logical thinkers could benefit more from studying refutational map, which eliminated the effect of logical thinking on the transfer essay test. • Need for cognition was positively correlated with conceptual change.
5. D I S C U S S I O N • Implications • Teachers could employ refutational map as a useful cognitive tool to: ---facilitate students’ memorization and conceptual change; ---narrow the gap in transfer learning between lower and higher level logical thinkers. • Refutational map could be used as a adjunct to traditional reading materials. • It is a time- and cost-efficient intervention which holds promise for a wide and flexible adoption in classroom settings.
5. D I S C U S S I O N • Limitations and Future Work • The design of multiple-choice test is problematic. • The degree of participants’ familiarity with learning refutational map may influence their learning outcomes. Therefore, sufficient training would be necessary. • Would the results be different if the reading materials used in this study were more lengthy and complicated? • The effect of need for cognition on conceptual change could be further examined. • Future studies could investigate the effect of other individual characteristics, such as spatial and/or verbal reasoning ability, on learning with refutational map.
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Thank you! Qing Liu