A Blended Learning Environment in Chemistry for Promoting Conceptual Comprehension: A Journey to Target Students' Misconceptions

Abstract

Blended learning has become a new form of learning and teaching in science education. Researchers have indicated that the blended learning could create more meaningful in learning, support deep-level understanding, and contribute to better learning achievement in the exam. The present article presents a blended learning environment, combination of computer-based interactive lecture demonstration (CBILD) and web-based inquiry science environment (WISE), for chemistry learning of state of matter and phase change. To create the blended environment, 50 twelve-graders were recruited in an investigation of prior knowledge by challenging their epistemological and ontological belief of the chemistry concepts. As such, a series of two-tier conceptual items were administered and then the students' unscientific conceptions about state of matter and phase change were extracted as an account. The finding showed that they hold various patterns of misconceptions covering the effects of pressure and temperature on arrangement of particle and phase change, and shape of molecule during phase change. Moreover, all of them have no scientific conception that plasma is a state of matter. Many misconceptions seem to due to the fact that they could not realize interaction between observable and unobservable level of chemical phenomena because of its complexity and abstraction. To make chemistry more accessible and meaningful for student learning, CBILD learning process was design in emphasizing macro-level representation and WISE was design to support sub-micro-level and symbolic representations in chemistry as face-to-face and on-line learning experience respectively. The learning process of blended learning environment was illustrated and described in a sequence for implementing in chemistry classroom. This could be an implication for researchers and teachers how to create blended learning environment which could improve teaching and learning strategy into a new form for science classroom, and it might enhance the change of student's misconceptions and their mental model development in science.