Effectiveness of Concept Cartoons on Pre-service Science Teachers’ Conceptual Understandings in Organic Chemistry

Abstract

The fact that the topic of alcohols is related to many topics in organic chemistry has enabled this subject to have an important place in organic chemistry. This study aimed at analyzing the effect of concept cartoon-based teaching on eliminating the alternative conceptions pre-service teachers have about alcohols. Toward this aim, the study, based on a quasi-experimental design, was conducted with pre-service science teachers studying in science education department in Turkey, with one class being randomly selected as the experimental group (N=38), the other as a control (N=42). Both groups were administered an alcohol concept test (ACT) as a pre- and post-test. While the concept cartoon-based teaching was implemented in the experimental group, traditional teaching was followed in the control group. The results of the research revealed no significant difference between the groups according to the pre-test scores, but a significant difference favoring the experimental group was noted in the post-test scores. It was consequently found that concept cartoon-based teaching was more effective than traditional teaching in the desired level of conceptual understanding.