THE EFFECT OF SEVEN PRINCIPLES AND MODEL-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE LEARNING ON THE CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND ELIMINATING MISCONCEPTIONS OF THE PARTICULATE NATURE OF MATTER

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of the seven principles for good practice (SPGP) and model-supported cooperative learning on the conceptual understanding of the particulate nature of matter (PNM) and aimed to eliminate the misconceptions of students related to it. A quasi-experimental method was used. The study was conducted with 73 sixth-grade students divided into three experimental groups and a control group. The reading writing application (RWA) method of cooperative learning was used in all experimental groups, namely the first experimental group [SPGP - RWA - model group (SRMG)], the second experimental group [SPGP - RWA group (SRG)], the third experiment group [RWA group (RG)], and the control group [(CG)]. A concept test containing 16 two-stage questions was used to collect data and one-way ANOVA and ANCOVA were used in the analysis of the data. According to the results, the SPGP and model-supported cooperative learning applications facilitated conceptual understanding of the PNM. Accordingly, it was observed that the SRG and the SRMG further improved their conceptual understanding of the PNM. However, it was found that some misconceptions continued to prevail in all groups in the post-test. It is recommended that different active learning methods be applied together with cooperative learning and models to help conceptual understanding and eliminate misconceptions. In addition, it is suggested to apply different methods to increase the effect of the seven principles.