A study of transition metals includes studying the physical and chemical properties of first-row d block metals in the Periodic Table. The curriculum on transition metals emphasizes learning the physical...
This study was conducted to reduce the incidence of alternative conceptions about transition metals among form six students. A quasi-experimental design was carried out involving 79 students from two intact classes that were randomly classified as the treatment (N=47) and the comparison (N=32) groups. Information and communication technology-based instruction (ICT) was used in this study with the treatment group while a traditional teaching method was used with the comparison group. For the quantitative study, nine two-tier items were administered in a conceptual test after instruction to the 79 form six students in both the groups to ascertain their understanding about transition metals. Five students from the treatment group were selected for interviews before and after the instruction to obtain further insights into their understanding. An independent samples t-test analysis was used to compare the total scores of the two groups in the transition metals conceptual test. The outcome revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the test mean scores between the comparison and treatment groups (Mtre = 8.47; SDtre = 0.69; Mcomp = 3.91; SDcomp = 0.96; t = 23.103, p < 0.001). The results from the analysis indicated that students from the treatment group showed significantly greater levels of achievement than the students from the comparison group. Furthermore, the percentage of alternative conceptions among students in the treatment group was lower than those of the comparison group students.
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