The Effectiveness Of Iccwl In Reducing Misconceptions And Supporting Decision Making And Problem-Solving Skills Of Form 2 Students
Loading...
Date
2021-04
Authors
Chandrakesan, Kasturi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of humankind in this century. There is an urgent need to foster climate change awareness and knowledge among young people to preserve the environment for the future generation. Education is an essential element of the global response to climate change. The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of interactive climate change web-based learning (ICCWL) in overcoming misconceptions about climate change on the Greenhouse effect (GHE), Global warming (GW), Acid rain (AR) and Ozone layer depletion (OLD), enhancing the ability to make decisions and to solve problems on climate change among Form Two students. A total of 123 Form Two students from a suburban school in Malaysia involved in this study. The participating was school randomly identified from the population of 27 secondary schools in Kulim district. The students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group consisted of 63 students; the control group consisted of 60 students. The research used both intervention mixed-method design and qualitative methods. The study performed in three stages. In the first stage, interviews were conducted with students and teachers and followed by the document analysis to design the Interactive Climate Change Web Learning (ICCWL). In the second stage, the effects of the treatment on misconceptions and decision-making ability were measured. For this purpose, the Atmosphere Related Environmental Problem Diagnostic Test (AREPDiT) and Decision-making Questionnaire (DMQ) were administered during pre and post-tests. In the third stage, interviews were conducted to gain insights into the quantitative data on misconceptions and decision making collected in the second stage. Additionally, students problem-solving skills following the treatment were explored at this stage from the responses to the open-ended test. The quantitative responses measuring the effects of the treatment were analysed using MANCOVA. The MANCOVA analysis showed significant differences in the AREPDiT mean scores between the control and experimental groups ((F (1,604) = 361.855; p = 0.00) n2 = 0.751). The follow up univariate analysis revealed significant changes between the control and experimental groups' mean scores for all the four subscales that constitute misconceptions (Greenhouse effect, Global warming, Acid rain, and Ozone layer depletion). The MANCOVA analysis also showed significant differences in the decision-making ability between the control and experimental groups' mean scores (F (5,116) = 203.97, p = 0.00 (p < 0.05), n2= 0.898). The follow up univariate analysis revealed significant changes between the control and experimental groups' mean scores for all the five subscales that constitute decision making (Intuitive, Dependent, Rational, Avoidance, and Spontaneous). The outcome of the interviews and documents analysis from the first stage implies that interactive learning that provides real-world experiences is inevitable in understanding climate change. The themes that emerged from the thematic analysis performed on the interview responses indicated that the students were able to overcome their misconceptions and make decisions related to climate change. For problem-solving ability, the open-ended test results indicated that students exhibited analytical and critical problem-solving abilities following the treatment. Findings from this study suggest that Interactive Climate Change Web Learning (ICCWL) is a viable approach to be used to overcome misconceptions and improve decision-making and to teach the problem-solving skill to Form Two students.
Description
Keywords
Education