Effects of storylines embedded within the context-based approach on pre-service primary school teachers’ conceptions of matter and its states

A primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of storylines embedded within the context-based approach on pre-service primary school teachers’ understanding of matter and phase change concepts. The research findings reported here show that the teaching intervention improved conceptual understanding and significantly corrected alternative conceptions. Another important purpose was to help pre-service teachers add new knowledge to their long-term memory. The results obtained for this purpose indicated that the teaching intervention used in this study helped students to retain correct conceptions about the states of matter. The teaching intervention facilitated meaningful learning by improving the ability of pre-service teachers to link theoretical knowledge with real life.

Furthermore, the storylines embedded within the context-based learning positively affected attitudes towards chemistry. Pre-service primary school teachers listened to the related story carefully and were very willing to discover the key concepts in the storylines, to ask questions, and to complete the worksheets. Throughout the intervention, students were kept both physically and mentally active; therefore, these positive effects likely stemmed from teaching based on the context-based approach.

Typically, pre-service teachers receive teacher-centered instruction at the university level. Consequently, many of them are prejudiced against the storylines embedded within the context-based approach. However, studies have shown that completing storylines and participating in discussions enable students to see how their peers think and to share ideas by investigating, analyzing, and explaining the phenomena presented or contradictory theories (e.g., Erduran, 2007; Yan & Erduran, 2008). Since the context-based approach enhances interactions among learners, their attitudes changes day-by-day and improves significantly.

The storylines based on the context-based approach used in this study facilitated pre-service teachers’ meaningful learning and helped overcome alternative conceptions. Therefore, we suggest that the storylines and other activities used in this study, as well as in other studies, should be placed in chemistry textbooks for better learning. Also, teachers should be trained in the preparation and use of storylines. There is a need for regular and substantial in-service teacher training programs to improve teaching approaches. Within these programs, teachers should be informed about storylines and the context-based approach and be persuaded to adopt them in preference to their theoretical frameworks. This should involve giving teachers practical experience in the design and implementation of new approaches (e.g. Stolk et al., 2009a; 2009b). By doing this, the teachers may create an enriched learning environment where students can actively participate in the tasks in context of their learning process. Furthermore, such context-based activities should be incorporated in both the student textbooks and the teacher guide books.

Although the one group pre-test/post-test designed for this study does not allow for comparison between different groups, this limitation should not compromise the effect of the adopted teaching approach. Studies have shown that most teaching approaches that differ from traditional instruction promote better students’ understanding and achievement in matter and its states chemistry (e. g., Chang, Quintana & Krajcik, 2010; Durmuş & Bayraktar, 2010; Özmen, 2011). For this reason and based on the results of this study, we feel confident that the teaching approach in the study was effective on improving pre-service teachers’ understanding and alternative conceptions.

Storylines should be used as a starting point for teaching chemistry concepts and they should take into account student difficulties in understanding certain concepts. The storylines should be relevant for students and should motivate them to study the chemistry concepts. Another important condition for improving context-based chemistry teaching is a careful selection of storylines.

Since the study was conducted with only 35 first-year pre-service teachers enrolled in the primary teacher education program and only with concepts related to the states of matter, further studies with a larger population and with different topics should be undertaken to generalize the findings. This study may be considered as a small step in developing effective teaching strategies in Turkish schools regarding the context-based approach.

In our country, there has been an ongoing transition from teacher-centered instruction to student-oriented approaches in most chemistry classes. During this transition, the storylines embedded within the context-based approach can be used to improve students’ understanding of science concepts and dispel their alternative ideas.