Abstract:

Many technology-enhanced systems have been applied in teaching science. YouTube is one such method. It allows viewers to interact with videos and is potential for enhancing learning. Hence, this study utilizes its interactivity to study how well this instructional approach affects forth graders’ learning growth, in terms of scientific concepts and argumentation ability. Two-group pre-post-test quasi-experimental design was conducted in this study. There were 111 students participating in this study and these students were divided into two groups, the experimental (EXP) and control group (CON). Subjects in the EXP group were taught with interactive teaching materials, whereas students in the CON group were taught with conventional pedagogy. All subjects were taught the same topics for six weeks (40 minutes x 3 classes, per-week), thus the total duration of intervention was 720 minutes (18 classes). This study developed and used the scientific concepts test (SCT) and scientific argumentation ability test (SAAT) to measure students’ learning outcomes. Both tests were used in the pre- and post-tests, and the validity of both tests was confirmed by experts in science education. The reliability of the SCT and the SAAT were .84 and .81, respectively. The results of t-test showed that students in both groups did significantly better in the post-test than those in the pre-test SCT. In the SAAT, only the EXP group did significantly better in the post-test than in the pre-test. ANCOVA was then used to examine the comparative effectiveness of these two different instructional methods. The results showed that students in the EXP group improved significantly compared with students in the CON group, both in the SCT and SAAT. Furthermore, student feedback also indicated that using interactive teaching materials could enhance student learning interests. Therefore, this study concluded that interactive teaching materials are capable of improving student learning of scientific concepts and their competencies for scientific argumentation.

Keywords:

Scientific concept, argumentation ability, interactive teaching materials