Conceptual change instructional approach through the use of conceptual change texts and pre-service chemistry teachers’ motivation

Abstract

This study explored College level pre-service chemistry teachers motivation in organic chemistry, especially in concepts of aliphatic hydrocarbons.  Motivation as an affective domain is an important area of attention in  chemistry education in general and organic chemistry education in  particular. To capture students learning processes and behavior the investigation on students’ motivation has been done while using  Conceptual Change Texts (CCTs) during the instructional process. Participants were 87 pre-service chemistry teachers in Arbaminch College of Teachers Education, Southern, Nations, Nationalities and Peoples regional state (SNNPRS), Ethiopia. Two intact classes, taking Introductory Organic Chemistry I, were randomly assigned as experimental group and  comparison group. The data collection instrument was the Chemistry  Motivation Rating Scale (CMRS) items. A non-equivalent pre-test-posttest control group design was used to investigate pre-service chemistry teachers’ motivation. Data were collected from pre-service teachers and analyzed using independent samples t-test, Wilcoxon-Ranked test and Mann-Whitney U test. A pre-CMRS established that Conceptual Change Instructional Approach (CCIA) group and Conventional Instructional Approach (CIA) group were comparable at the start. Analysis of students’ responses indicated that students in the CCIA group rated themselves higher than those in the CIA group in Post-CMRS after intervention. Based on the findings and discussions, conclusions were made.