Impact of 21st-Century Collaboration on Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Understandings of Acid-Base Concepts in Selected Science Colleges of Education in Ghana

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of 21st-century collaboration on pre-service teachers’ comprehension of acid-base concepts in selected science colleges of education in the Volta Region of Ghana. A pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group was used in this study. The Acids-Bases Chemistry Achievement Test (ABCAT) was adapted from Damanhuri, Treagust, Won, and Chandrasegaran, (2016) to evaluate the extent to which pre-service science teachers in Ghanaian science colleges of education achieved the intended curriculum on acid-base concepts, specifically, concentration in mol/dm3 or g/dm3, properties of acids and bases, pH, pOH, neutralisation reaction and titrimetry. A sample of 52 second year pre-service science teachers from two intact science colleges of education was conveniently selected to participate in the study. An ABCAT comprising 19 items made up of 10 multiple-choice items and nine two-tier multiple-choice items was administered to pre-service science teachers as pre-test and post-test. Students taught with the 21st-century collaboration performed better than those taught using the Lecture method (LM) concerning acid-base conception when one-way between-group analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and post hoc analysis with a Bonferroni adjustment was conducted on ABCAT. The results suggest that 21st-century collaboration facilitated the conceptual understandings of pre-service teachers in the experimental group.