Seesaw Balancing: A Hands-On Model to Understand Moment of Force in Classroom

Abstract

Teaching of science is an endeavor to translate abstract scientific concepts into the concrete ones which can be accessed by students. Among others, one practical method is the use of a hands-on model that allows students to manipulate materials and examine targeted phenomena. In this study, a hands-on model called “seesaw balancing” was proposed to demonstrating effects of “moment of force” in a classroom. By using the seesaw balancing as the main part of a structured inquiry activity, a single group pretest-posttest research design was employed in this study. With the purposive sampling technique, 50 grade 9th students who have never experienced in topic of moment of force participated in the study. The paired-sample t-test indicated a significant enhancement of students’ conceptual understanding after the treatment of structured inquiry laboratory at .05 significant level. Moreover, attitude questionnaire reveals the students have positive view towards the hands-on model as they perceived the model is interesting, suitable with the level of the students, help them to do self-learning, and safe to handle, respectively.