Application of Conceptual Change Model in Teaching Basic Concepts of Physics and Correcting Misconceptions

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the conceptual change model (CCM) on learning the basic concepts of Electrostatics. CCM is an active teaching method that puts emphasis on children s preconception. The underlying principles of CCM are derived from constructivist theory. The growing body of research shows that students’ knowledge about Physics has formal aspects rather than being useful and usable. Students encounter problems in understanding Physics concepts (such as static electricity), therefore their perception and understanding is often subject to misconception. Thus, Electrostatics was considered as the subject of this study. The study population comprised of female junior high school students. Design used in this study was the quasi- experimental method of Solomon four-group design. The samples selected conveniently and randomly were assigned to two experimental and two control groups. Researcher-made tests of academic achievement in three areas of knowledge, comprehension and application of concepts, were used as the data collection tools. Then, central and dispersion measures, the t-test and two-way analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses. Research findings showed that CCM teaching methods are superior to the traditional way of teaching and learning physics concepts in detecting and correcting misconceptions.