Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

First Advisor/Committee Member

Nyaradzo Mvududu, Ed.D.

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Munyi Shea, Ph.D.

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Nalline Baliram, Ph.D.

Keywords

metaconceptual, framework, conceptual change, metaceconceptual awareness, science education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of providing metaconceptual awareness questions on the conceptual change and metaconceptual awareness of students in the chemistry classroom. This quasi-experimental study with a repeated-measures design analyzed the effects of providing metaconceptual awareness questions on the conceptual change and metaconceptual awareness of high school chemistry students. The intervention consisted of providing metaconceptual awareness questions nine times to the experimental group over a three-week period. The chemistry conceptual knowledge of both groups was assessed three times: pretest, posttest, and a delayed retention test. The metaconceptual awareness of the students was assessed twice with a pretest and a posttest. An ANOVA with repeated-measures was performed for both the chemistry conceptual knowledge data and the metaconceptual awareness data. A significant between subject-effect of F(1,98) = 10.17, p = .002, ηp2 = .10 indicates that 10% of the variance in chemistry scores was explained by the intervention. The average posttest scores were significantly higher for the experimental group with a Cohen’s d of .63. The retention test scores were also significantly higher with a Cohen’s d of .85. The ANOVA with repeated-measures did not indicate a significant effect of the intervention on metaconceptual awareness scores. These findings indicate more research is warranted for the intervention of providing metaconceptual awareness questions in the science classroom.

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