The effectiveness of a refutational text in addressing the alternative conceptions held by secondary school students on the topic of wave propagation in an elastic medium was explored in this study. The refutational text, which was 816 words long and featured the particle-spring model, was found to be more effective in promoting conceptual change than a traditional text (878 words) derived from standard physics textbooks. A refutational video, depicting animations of the particle-spring model as well as illustrations of the conceptual elements of the basic ideas presented in the refutational text, seems to be effective in further reducing the percentage of students harbouring alternative conceptions about the topic when used to supplement either the refutational or the traditional text.