A conflict map teaching strategy to induce conceptual change in preconceptions about wave motion: Case study and interpretive analysis

Abstract

The present research applied the theoretical framework of Tsai's (2000) conflict map in a high school physics class's study of properties of waves. A teaching strategy was developed that presented experimentation and observations that were consistent with the students' ideational network sequence. The teaching process included directly observing events discrepant with the students' preconceptions, experiencing observations and mapping and verifying their causal correlation within the mathematical domain, and consistently verifying the scientific conception from various perspectives, including the integration of anomalous data, both in the real world and in an ideal world. The instructional effects of the teaching strategy were examined through qualitative analysis, consisting of introspective protocols (questionnaires) before and after the class, and behavioral observations during the experimentation and observation phases. The results of the analysis suggested that the process used induced conceptual change.