The Effect of Science Writing Heuristic on Concept Formation of Light in 'Mirrors and Lenses' and Scientific Attitudes

Abstract

We investigated the effect of Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) on elementary students' concept formation and their retention. Also we explored the interaction effect of those with scientific attitudes. We developed mirrors/lenses lessons incorporating SWH. An experimental group of fifth grade students (n=25) had been instructed with SWH lessons for six periods while a control group (n=25) taught according to the normal science lessons based on the Korean national curriculum using teacher's guides published by the Ministry of Education. Results of pre- and post-test of understanding the concept of mirrors and lenses showed a positive impact of SWH on both male and female students. However, the retention effect after post-test revealed that SWH only had an effect on female students' scientific attitudes. SWH, therefore, could be an effective teaching approach especially on concept formation, retention effects by fostering female students' scientific attitudes.