Abstract:

Aromatic compounds is one of the fundamental topics in Organic Chemistry. For this reason, creating learning environments that will contribute to pre-service teachers’ meaningful understanding of aromatic compounds is of importance. The purpose of this study was to explore whether argumentation-based instruction has an effect on the conceptual understanding of pre-service science teachers in the topic of aromatic compounds. In pursuit of this aim, the study was conducted in quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test and control group design during the 2016-2017 academic year at the Science Education Division of a university in Turkey. Two classes were randomly selected as an experimental (N=30) and a control group (N=35). The data collection instruments used in the study were pre- and post-tests, consisting of 10 open-ended questions. Following the application of the pre-test, the topic of aromatic compounds was taught in the control group with the basis of the traditional teaching method; the experimental group was taught using argumentation-based instruction. The instruction in the experimental group was carried out with 6 argumentation activities under the headings of “conditions of aromaticity,” “properties of aromatic hydrocarbons,” and “naming aromatic compounds.” The independent samples t-test showed that the pre-test scores of the experimental and control groups had no significant difference between them, but that the experimental group presented a difference as opposed to the other group in the post-test. All of these findings showed that the pre-service science teachers receiving argumentation-based instruction were much more successful in their conceptual understanding of the topic of aromatic compounds.

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