The Effects of inquiry-based computer simulation with cooperative learning on scientific thinking and conceptual understanding of gas laws among form four students in Malaysian smart schools
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Date
2005-06
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based computer .
simulation with heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning (HACL) and inquiry-based
computer simulation with friendship cooperative learning (FCL) on (a) scientific
reasoning (SR) and (b) conceptual understanding (CU) among Form Four students in
Malaysian Smart Schools. The study further investigated the effects of the HACL and
FCL methods on performance in scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding_,
among students of different reasoning abilities. The SR and CU scores were measured
through a scientific reasoning test and a test of conceptual understanding of gas laws
respectively.
A quasi-experimental method that employed the 3 x 2 Factorial Design was
applied in the study. The first factor was three types of instructional method, namely,
(a) inquiry-based computer simulation with heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning
(HACL), (b) inquiry-based computer simulation with friendship cooperative learning
(FCL), and (c) inquiry-based computer simulat:on with traditional group work (TG). The
second factor was student reasoning ability levels, namely, empirical-inductive (EI) and
hypothetical-deductive (HD). The dependent variables were student performance in
SR and CU. The sample consisted of 301 students from 12 pure science classes in
four Smart Schools which were all randomly selected and assigned to the treatment
groups. The equivalence of all groups was established using the pre-SR and pre-CU
tests.
The results showed that students in the HACL group significantly outperformed
their counterparts in the FCL group who, in turn, significantly outperformed other
students in the TG group in scientific thinking and conceptual understanding. Also, HD
students in the HACL group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the FCL
and the TG groups in conceptual understanding. Further, HD students in the HACL
group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the TG group in scientific
reasoning, but did not significantly outperform their counterparts in the FCL group.
However, there were no significant differences between the performance of HD
students in the FCL group and the TG group in scientific reasoning and conceptual
understanding.
The results also showed that El students in the HACL group significantly
outperformed their counterparts in the FCL group and in the TG group in scientific
reasoning and conceptual understanding. The El students in the FCL group in turn
significantly outperformed their counterparts !n the TG group in scientific reasoning
and conceptual understanding. Finally, the results showed that there were no
significant interaction effects between student reasoning ability levels and the
instructional methods for the scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding
scores.
The findings of this study suggest that the inquiry-based computer simulation
with heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning method is effective in enhancing
scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding for students of all reasoning
abilities, and for maximum effectiveness, cooperative learning groups should be
composed of students of heterogeneous abilities.
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Keywords
Inquiry-based computer simulation , Cooperative learning , Conceptual understanding , Malaysian smart schools