Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi (H. U. Journal of Education) 41: 112-123 [2011] USING CONCEPTUAL CHANGE TEXTS WITH ANALOGIES FOR MISCONCEPTIONS IN ACIDS AND BASES KAVRAMSAL DEĞİŞİM METİNLERİYLE VERİLEN ANALOJİLERİN ASİT-BAZ KONUSUNDAKİ KAVRAM YANILGILARI İÇİN KULLANIMI İpek ÇETİNGÜL*, Ömer GEBAN** * ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of conceptual change oriented instruction over traditional instruction on students' understanding of acids and bases concept. Besides, effects of gender difference and science process skills on students’ understanding of acids and bases were also investigated. Analysis of the results showed that establishing an analogical thinking during the instruction via conceptual change text caused better acquisition of scientific conceptions and elimination of misconceptions. In-depth interviews after the post-tests showed that students' lack of knowledge and misinterpretation of solutions and bonds concepts result in serious misconceptions in acids and bases concept. Especially, students have problems when they relate the concentration and strength with acidity, basicity and pH. Results also showed that science process skills of the students could be a strong predictor of their achievements in acids and bases whereas there was no significant effect of gender on students’ understanding of acids and bases. Keywords: misconceptions, conceptual change, conceptual change texts, analogy, acids and bases ÖZET: Bu çalışma, kavramsal değişim öğretim yönteminin geleneksel öğretim yöntemine göre öğrencilerin asit ve bazlar konusundaki anlamlı öğrenmelerine etkisini araştırmak amacı yla yapılmıştır. Ayrıca cinsiyet ve bilimsel işlem becerilerinin öğrencilerin asit ve bazlar konusunu anlamaya etkisi de araştırılmıştır. Analiz sonuçları, kavramsal değişim metinleriyle birlikte verilen benzeştirme yönteminin, öğrencilerin bilimsel gerçekleri daha iyi anlamasında ve kavram yanılgılarının giderilmesinde etkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Mülakatlar sonucu, öğrencilerin çözeltiler ve bağlar konusundaki yanlış anlamalarının ve bilgi eksikliklerinin asitler ve bazlar konusunda kavram yanılgılarına yol açtığı saptanmıştır. Öğrencilerin özellikle konsantrasyon ve kuvvetlilik kavramlarını asitlik, bazlık ve pH kavramlarıyla birleştirmede problem yaşadıkları görülmüştür. Ayrıca, bilimsel işlem becerilerinin öğrencilerin asit ve bazlar konusundaki başarılarını tahmin etmede etkili olduğu fakat cinsiyetin bir etkisi olmadığı görülmüştür. Anahtar sözcükler: kavram yanılgıları, kavramsal değişim, kavramsal değişim metinleri, benzeştirme, asitler ve bazlar 1. INTRODUCTION Constructivist learning theory states that learning is not the result of teaching rather it is the result of what students do with the new information they are presented with. If the new information does not fit with what students already know, they often choose to reject it and leave the classroom having learnt nothing. Motivation and attention are important factors in learning but there is an even more important factor to be considered as what the students already know. If we understand which pre-instructional conceptions are forming students’ current thinking, we might be able to strategize ways for students to question those beliefs and overcome them. The process of changing these beliefs, ideas or ways of thinking is called as conceptual change (Duit & Treagust, 2003). There are some specific procedures for promoting conceptual change and removing misconceptions. Using conceptual change texts is one of them. Different from the traditional textbooks, conceptual change texts are specifically designed to point out students’ misconceptions of the related topics and their weaknesses in explaining or solving a problem in order to remove them. For this purpose, topics are introduced with questions and students' possible answers that are not scientifically correct are mentioned directly to create dissatisfaction. Then, scientifically acceptable explanations, which are more plausible and intelligible, are given. There are some studies reporting the importance of conceptual change texts in facilitating conceptual change and removing misconceptions * * Dr., Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, ipuren@yahoo.com ** Prof. Dr., Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, geban@metu.edu.tr