A Preliminary Investigation of the Influences of Refutation Text and Instructional Design

Abstract

Teachers are often tasked with changing their students’ conceptions about scientific topics. One strategy that has been found effective for conceptual change is the use of refutation text. However, reviewing the literature revealed that many practical questions around the use refutation text have not been adequately addressed. A secondary issue is that teachers often create instructional videos for their students to view outside of class, but little guidance exists on how to design these videos. This study begins to examine the intersection of refutation text, conceptual change, and instructional video design by testing (a) the effects of traditional refutation text and soft refutation text on conceptual change when presented as narration in an instructional video, (b) the effects of traditional refutation text compared to soft refutation text when presented as narration on conceptual change in an instructional video, and (c) the influence of the presence of a human hand in the instructional video on cognitive, affective, and conceptual change scores. The results indicated that traditional refutation text and soft refutation text retain their effectiveness when presented as narration in an instructional video; soft refutation text and traditional refutation text produced nearly identical conceptual change when presented as narration in an instructional video; and the inclusion of a human hand in the instructional video did not influence conceptual change, learning, or the learners’ perceptions of the instructor. The preliminary implications for theory and practice are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.