Applying The 'Cognitive Conflict' Strategy To Facilitate Changes in The Conception of First Semester Students on The Topic of Voltaic Cell

摘要

The main objective of this study was to obtain the information regarding freshman students' alternative conceptions, the characteristics of conflict cognitive strategy and the profile of students' conceptual change in Voltaic Cell, which were further elaborated into six determined indicators. The subject consisted of fourteen freshman students of Chemistry Programme. This study was conducted into three stages, which were (1) pre-test, (2)cognitive conflict instruction and (3) post-test. Students' conceptions profile were classified into three categories based on Appleton, 1999 (Rolka, 2007), which were identical fit, approximate fit and incomplete fit. Based on the data obtained from the pretest, students generally performed the incomplete fit and approximate fit for all indicators, but only a few performed the identical fit. The characteristics of conflict cognitive strategy that is able to facilitate students' conceptual change was those that destabilize students' inaccurate existing conception through contradictory experiences (disequilibrium), followed by teacher's intervention that enables the students rich the reequilibrium. After the instruction, students generally performed the raising conception profile, but some did not perform conceptual change and only a few performed the lowering one.