Science teachers’ perceptions toward discrepant events applied in science education

There has been a common view that motivating students at the beginning of a lesson is an important factor for classroom management because their attention is distracted easily by unnecessary things. So teachers should be able to arouse interest on lessons, accordingly, on them. At the beginning of a lesson, they may talk about a discrepant event to draw attention, determine concepts students already have and encourage participation. If discrepant events are arranged properly, conditions are provided for active participation to lessons.

Discrepant events which come from an idea that “Two things that usually pique the interests of students in science classes are sports (1) and observing the unexpected (2)” (Mason, Griffith, Hogue, Holley & Hunter, 2004) and come from Festinger's(1957) theory called Theory of Cognitive Dissonance can be defined as; contrary to previous experience believed to be true, are events which has unexpected results used to compare students together with their beliefs and to attract their attention (Misiti, 2000). They are used for the purpose of attracting students’ attention, encouraging them to think about a topic, stimulating them to work out a contradictory case by changing usual way of thinking (creating cognitive imbalance) and make them research to find a reasonable explanation, improving their inquiry abilities, helping them to be mentally more qualified in cases of curiosity and the unknown (Weller, 2008).

Discrepant events which have been identified as a valuable tool for students to cause cognitive conflict because they represent a kind of abnormal experience that forces students to focus on previous concepts, a necessary step for conceptual change (Pintrich, Marx & Boyle, 1993) are those developing against learners’ ideas in mind and contribute to their enthusiasm to learn principles and concepts related to science (Wright & Govindarojan, 1992). As it is known from literature, students come to science courses beliefs about the phenomena and concepts to be taught or pre-instructional knowledges (Duit & Treagust, 2003) and and these concepts can be called as misconceptions, alternative frameworks, naive theories, naive conceptions, or preconceptions (Clement, 1993; Dykstra, Boyle, & Monarch, 1992). An important term which should be focused here to show importance of discrepant events in courses is conceptual change which has become a term that shows learning science from constructivist perspectives (Duit, 1999) and uses on learning and instruction in many studies (e.g., Guzetti & Hynd, 1998; Mason, 2001; Schnotz, Vosniadou, & Carretero, 1999; Vosniadou, 1994). For this reason, it is undeniable that discrepant events play a part in assuring the conceptual change that is cognitive aspect of science education and have been a focus of interest for many years (Park, 2006). In order to realize the conceptual change, it is required to meet 4 conditions based on constructivist approach developed by Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog (1982): students find concepts already in use in adequate, but new ones comprehensible, rational and useful. Discrepant events are effective methods used for creation of cognitive dissonance which then becomes consistent as emphasized by Piaget, realization of conceptual change, arousing curiosity, interest and motivation, cases of brain based experiments and demonstrations (Longfield, 2009; Gonzalez-Espada, Birriel & Birriel, 2010).

Discrepant events increase scientific understanding and natural sense of curiosity for brain based experiments and demonstrations, film, explanation of a series of events, laboratory tests and a natural event through school trip by providing a deep thinking and discussion of the results (O’Brien, 2011; Weller, 2008). In order to provide education through discrepant events, it is also important to decide how to present them to students after choosing one of the ways listed above.

When the related field is searched, it is quite obvious that discrepant events are based on different strategies. It is stated that discrepant events are in compliance with the method called GOE (Guess, Observe and Explain) which is defined on constructivist approach and a demonstration was prepared depending on this method (Baddock & Bucat, 2008). In some researches, we may find presence of discrepant events taught through learning cycle, one of the most important approaches in science education, developed by Karplus and Their (1967). Learning cycle is a student oriented approach based on 3 main parts: Exploration, Term introduction and Concept application. In the exploration step, guidance is subordinate to experiment, observation and trips including new cases, ideas which are gained through students’ observations and evaluations. In the next step, students are required to explain and define scientific terms gained through experiment, activities and observation carried out under the guidance of their teachers and through discussion. In the concept application step, students are expected to apply scientific concepts to new cases and the support they need is provided (Türkmen, 2006; Wright & Govindarajan, 1995). However, Friedl suggests 3 general steps to use discrepant events: Presenting discrepant events, including students to the event to conclude contradictory case and solving problems faced when applying discrepant events within scientific knowledge.

In this study, examples given by students to discrepant events are to be evaluated according to learning cycle approach (3E) because it includes concept application step allowing students to use knowledge and skills acquired at lessons in different cases.

To sum up, main advantages of applying discrepant events in science education can be stated by Mason, et al. (2004) as: Discrepant events lead individuals to feel discontent about conceptional knowledge and in some cases reconsider their pedagogic practices. At the same time, they ensure to correct controversies between accepted scientific explanation and individuals’ misconceptions, additionally attract their attention, keep them engaged, motivate and provide mental development related to their scientific knowledge.

In this context, applying discrepant events in science lessons has a variety of advantages. In science education, to stimulate interest and motivate students to challenge their covert science misconceptions, to provide higher-order thinking skills, discrepant events are very effective (‐Espada, Birriel, & Birriel, 2010). Especially, in some subjects such as pressure, nervous system/reflex, acids and bases, air friction force, the concept of species in genetic unit and electricity, teaching subjects theoretically doesn't allow the students to structure these knowledge in their minds. Discrepant events enable science subjects to transform from abstract concept to concrete conception. In many studies, it was shown that science demonstrations which are main part of discrepant events are very effective for promoting understanding, generating interest and students attention, (e.g., Buncick, Betts, & Horgan, 2001; Callan, Crouch, Fagen, & Mazur, 2004; Manaf & Subramaniam, 2004; Meyer, Schmidt, Nozawa, & Paneee, 2003).

In the science curriculum published in 2013 in Turkey, inquiry based learning was determined as basic approach of the science lesson and it is aimed to educate science literate individuals (Ministry of National Education [MONE], 2013). Although a holistic viewpoint has been adopted in terms of teaching and learning theories and practices in the science curriculum, this approach allows the student to be responsible for his / her own learning, enabling active participation in the learning process, and structuring the knowledge in his / her mind. Consequently, discrepant events which take place in this study are in accordance with the basic approach of the science education. On a detailed study of international literature of discrepant events in science education, it is important to draw attention to limited number of practical works including discrepant events and a research group at institutional level (e.g., Baddock & Bucat, 2008; Espada et al., 2010; Longfield, 2009; Mancuso, 2010; Willis, 1999; Wright & Govindarajan, 1992), but we haven’t found a discrepant event at national level. What makes this study important is that there hasn’t been a discrepant event practice and because of the reasons listed above. Teachers should be able to be qualified enough in terms of knowledge and skills to apply in the lessons.

The purpose of the study is to examine science teachers’ perceptions of discrepant events and level of awareness. So in this research, teachers’ views and practices applied in lessons were examined to evaluate their perceptions on discrepant events and their level of awareness. There are several research questions guided the study.

1. What do science teachers provide as discrepant event examples?

a. What are the reasons why they consider these examples as discrepant events?

2. What do the science teachers give examples toward the discrepant events in terms of the unit / theme?

3. What are the scientific concepts or processes that science teachers want to explain when they use examples of discrepant events they give?

4. Why do science teachers use discrepant events in their lessons?

5. What are the purposes of use of discrepant events in the class in terms of science teachers' perceptions?

6. Do science teachers use discrepant events in the class?

7. What are science teachers’ expectations from students in case of using discrepant events?

8. What do science teachers think about skills developed with a discrepant event?

9. What do science teachers think about advantages and disadvantages of a lesson taught with discrepant events?