Abstract:

One vital goal of science teaching is the development of scientific literacy in learners. This goal is pursued in the primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria by exposing learners to Basic science which lays the foundation for the acquisition of fundamental science knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for them to make informed decisions and to solve everyday problems. The science teacher has the responsibility of helping learners make sense of new science concepts and to develop the scientifically accepted conceptions of science phenomena. Science teachers face challenges with learners who come to the classroom with all kinds of pre-conceptions about science, most of which turn out to be faulty as alternative conceptions or outright misconceptions. These conceptions learners have of their natural world may sometimes be in conflict with ideas teachers want them to learn. Studies have established that learners may hold on tenaciously to such conceptions and they are usually resistant to change especially when teachers teach using traditional methods.

Science is a unique field of study made up of many complex concepts teachers need to help students learn despite their prior conceptions. Researchers have alluded to the fact that effective science teaching has to do with bringing about conceptual change in learners by using novel teaching and learning methods which are based on constructivism. These methods should take into cognizance students prior knowledge , provide opportunities for them to be actively engaged in open-ended investigations, discussions of scientific ideas, collaborative work and other activities that will enable them confront their faulty conceptions and resolve these in favour of more plausible explanations or ideas. It is also believed that where conceptual change has occurred successfully there will be meaningful learning and students are more likely to retain what they have learned.

In the light of this need for teachers to facilitate conceptual change by employing strategies which can expose students’ misconceptions and empower them to regulate their learning, this study made use of two conceptual change strategies (simplex and cognitive coaching) to teach students basic science concepts in the junior secondary school. The effects of these methods on students’ conceptual understanding viz a viz the traditional teaching method was measured. In addition, a delayed post-test debriefing was carried out to obtain data on students’ retention of science concepts. The main study adopted a pretest - post test control group quasi- experimental design involving two hundred and twenty three students in six intact classes in the second year of the junior secondary school. There were two experimental groups (simplex and cognitive coaching) and the traditional teaching method as control. From this cohort, a group of eighteen students were purposefully selected to form the sample. Data was collected using a Basic Science Achievement test (kuder Richardson KR= 0.73) and a Basic Science Conceptual Change Debriefing Protocol which contained tasks which measured students conceptual understanding of basic science concepts qualitatively as ‘whole,’ ‘Partial’, ‘ Opposite’ or ‘None’. Treatment lasted for eight weeks. Data was analysed using frequencies and percentages and graphs were used to display levels and patterns of conceptual change.

Keywords:

Conceptual Change, Simplex, Cognitive Coaching, Basic Science.