Effect of Concept Mapping Instructional Strategy on Students' Conceptual Change in Physics

Abstract

This study focused on the Effect of Concept Mapping Teaching Strategy on students’ conceptual change in physics. Two research questions guided the study. Two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the probability of 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. The study was carried out in Agbani Education zone of Enugu State. One hundred and nineteen students consisting of 63 boys and 56 girls from three co-educational schools were selected through purposive sampling for the study. Two intact streams of SSS 2 students in each of the secondary schools were used. The experimental group was taught concepts/principles involving refraction of the light wave using concept mapping while the control group was taught the same topics in optics using the conventional method. Thirty items on Test on Physics Concept (TPC) were developed by the researchers. The items were validated by three experts, one in measurement and evaluation and two in the Department of Science Education with a physics background, all from the Department of Science Education University of Nigeria Nsukka. Content validation was also carried out based on the table of specification. The reliability of the items was tested using the Kendall coefficient of concordance (W) with a coefficient of 0.81. Data on students' conceptual change in physics were collected using TPC. Pre-test scores were collected before the treatment while the post-test was administered after the treatment. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results of data analyzed revealed that there exists a difference between the mean scores of physics students in Test of physics concepts when taught using concept mapping and lecture methods in favour of the group taught light waves using concept mapping strategy. That there exists no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female physics students in a test of physics concepts when taught using concept mapping and lecture methods. The recommendations among others are that concept mapping and lecture methods should be used interchangeably in the teaching of physics to breach the gap in performance between male and female students and concept mapping instructional strategy should be used to promote conceptual change in physics.