ERIC Number: EJ1100206
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jun
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1571-0068
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Effect of Systemic Synthesis Questions [SSynQs] on Students' Performance and Meaningful Learning in Secondary Organic Chemistry Teaching
Hrin, Tamara N.; Milenkovic, Dušica D.; Segedinac, Mirjana D.
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, v14 n5 p805-824 Jun 2016
Many studies in the field of chemical education have emphasized the fact that students at secondary level have considerable difficulties in mastering organic chemistry contents. As a result, they choose to learn these contents in a "rote" way. Taking this fact into consideration, the first aim of our study was to help students in overcoming the aforementioned difficulties by applying new instructional tools--systemic synthesis questions [SSynQs]. To achieve the aim of our research, an experiment with two parallel groups was conducted. The experimental group was taught using [SSynQs] and the control group was taught using a traditional approach. The study included 65 students, 41 males, and 24 females, aged between 17-18 years. All the students attended the same high school and were taught by the instructions of the same teacher. The results showed that students from the experimental group achieved higher scores on the final testing than students from the control group. This confirmed the fact that application of [SSynQs] in the educational process improves students' meaningful learning in organic chemistry domain. Additionally, after conducting an exploratory factor analysis of the obtained data, [SSynQs] were characterized as highly effective tools for assessing students' meaningful understanding. Furthermore, our study has highlighted and connected two applications of [SSynQs] in the chemistry educational process. Firstly as an instructional tool and secondly as an assessment tool. The important task for future research would be to evaluate a third application of [SSynQs] as a diagnostic tool.
Descriptors: Organic Chemistry, Secondary School Science, Teaching Methods, Synthesis, Questioning Techniques, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Intermode Differences, Achievement Gains, Science Achievement, Factor Analysis, Instructional Effectiveness
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
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