Conceptual change text versus traditional text and application questions versus no questions in learning about electricity

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of conceptual change text and application questions on learning electricity concepts. In the conditions most similar to typical classroom situations, conceptual change text, as compared to traditional text, improved acquisition of qualitative concepts about simple electrical circuits. Similarly, subjects who received application questions did better than subjects who received no questions. Subjects who received conceptual change text also were more likely to display a more developmentally advanced model of electrical circuits on the post-test. However, both the conceptual change text variable and the application question variable interacted with the presence or absence of a pretest and sex of the subject. The implications of these results for the instructional theory of conceptual change and for instructional practice were discussed.