ERIC Number: EJ908938
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 100
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1306-3065
Cognitive Conflict and Situational Interest as Factors Influencing Conceptual Change
Kang, Hunsik; Scharmann, Lawrence C.; Kang, Sukjin; Noh, Taehee
International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, v5 n4 p383-405 Oct 2010
In this study, we investigated the relationships among cognitive conflict and situational interest induced by a discrepant event, attention and effort allocated to learning, and conceptual change in learning the concept of density. Subjects were 183 seventh graders from six middle schools in Seoul, Korea. A preconception test, a test of responses to a discrepant event, and a questionnaire of situational interest were administered as pretests. Computer-assisted instruction was then provided to the students as a conceptual change intervention. Questionnaires regarding attention and effort, and a conception test were administered as posttests. The conception test was administered once more as a retention test four weeks later. The results of path analysis indicated that both cognitive conflict and situational interest induced by a discrepant event respectively had an indirect effect on students' conceptual understanding, which were mediated by attention and effort allocated to concept learning. Situational interest, however, was found to exert a stronger influence on conceptual change than cognitive conflict. It was also found that attention, either directly or indirectly through effort, influenced students' conceptual understanding. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)
Descriptors: Conflict, Path Analysis, Concept Formation, Foreign Countries, Grade 7, Teaching Methods, Misconceptions, Student Behavior, Student Interests, Correlation, Attention, Middle School Students, Questionnaires, Pretests Posttests, Computer Assisted Instruction, Recall (Psychology), Scientific Concepts, Physics
International Consortium for the Advancement of Academic Publication. Abant Izzet Baysal University, Faculty of Education, 14280 Golkoy-Bolu, Turkey. e-mail: editorijese@gmail.com; Web site: http://www.ijese.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 7; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Korea (Seoul)