Composition-Effects of Context-based Learning Opportunities on Students’ Understanding of Energy

Abstract

Context-based learning has become a widespread approach in science education. While positive motivational effects of such approaches have been well established empirically, clear results regarding cognitive aspects of students' learning are still missing. In this article, we argue that this circumstance might be mainly rooted in the definition of context itself. Based on this argument, we shift from the issue of if contexts are cognitively beneficial to focus on the question of which composition of contexts is, at least by tendency, more effective than another. Based on theories of conceptual change, we therefore conducted a small-scale intervention study comparing two groups of students learning in different sets of contexts focusing on the same scientific concept-the cross-cutting concept of energy. Results suggest that learning in a more heterogeneous set of contexts eases transfer to new contexts in comparison to learning in a more homogeneous set of contexts. However, a more abstract understanding of the energy concept does not seem to be fostered by either of these approaches. Theoretical as well as practical implications of these finding are discussed.

The Effect of Assessment for Learning Integration in Scientific Approach Towards Students’ Conceptual Understanding on Work and Energy

“…Some studies indicated that the understanding of the work and energy concepts was still low even some students had misconceptions (Oktavia, Sulaeman, & Komariyah, 2017;Rahmatina, Sutopo, & Wartono, 2018;Zafitri, Fitriyanto, & Yahya, 2018). Some researchers had made efforts to improve the understanding of the work and energy concepts, including by applying PhET-assisted conceptual learning to support students' understanding of work and energy concepts deeply (Patriot, Suhandi, & Chandra, 2018;Podschuweit & Bernholt, 2018). However, they have to pay attention to the allocation of time because the steps during learning require considerable time.…”

Investigating Network Coherence to Assess Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Energy

“…To ensure comparability, scripts guiding students through the process of experimenting were provided. Within each context, the scripts included an introductory text (of equal length and complexity), a picture of the experimental set-up, a description of the experimental conduction, and five questions to guide the analysis [53]. Questions were structured in increasing order of complexity [54,55], ranging from naming relevant energy forms and describing energy transformations to calculating the experiments' energy conversion efficiency and identifying possible spots of energy degradation.…”

“…Before and after the experiments, students' knowledge was assessed with a test on the energy concept (N items = 25; multiple choice and constructed response format; pre-test: Mean score 12.03 / 25 points (SD = 5.02), Cronbach's α = 0.80, McDonald's ω = 0.76; post-test: Mean score 15.84 / 25 points (SD = 4.27); Cronbach's α = 0.77, McDonald's ω = 0.78; identical tests were used pre and post; for details see [53]). Additional tests were issued to control for general intelligence [56], scientific self-concept, and interest [57].…”

CHEMIE PUR – Unterrichten in der Natur: Entwicklung und Evaluation eines kontextorientierten Unterrichtskonzepts im Bereich Outdoor Education zur Änderung der Einstellung zu „Chemie und Natur“

“…Outdoor Education stellt folglich einen Makrokontext in Form einer spezifischen Lernumgebung dar. Anhand dieser kurzen Ausführung wird bereits deutlich, dass es keine einheitliche Definition zum Begriff Kontext gibt (Duranti & Goodwin, 1992;Podschuweit & Bernholt, 2018). Im Folgenden werden daher relevante theoretische Aspekte zu Kontexten zusammengeführt.…”