Twenty-sixth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Students have alternative conceptions about metal and non-metal before learning in schools. The purpose of this study is to understand the junior high students’ conceptions of metal and non-metal and how group interaction affects their conceptual construction during discussing with peers. Twenty-six students of 8th grade in one class participated in this study. They were grouped to eight small groups and familiar with group discussion in the science class. They took two-tier diagnostic tests of metal and non-metal as a pre- test followed by several group discussions then by a post-test. Besides, six students of two groups were especially observed and analyzed qualitatively: one was heterogeneous achievement group and the other was homogeneous high achievement group. The results indicate that students’ conceptions of metal and non-metal are related to the language, daily life experiences, and the element’s position in the periodic table. In addition, the different structures of peer status in heterogeneous and homogeneous groups were associated with different ways of group discussion. Meanwhile, the ways of group discussion were associated with how groups reached consensus and then led to the group members’ conceptual construction. When group interaction went equally, students in both homogeneous and heterogeneous groups tended to have positive learning outcome. However, when group interaction went unequally, especially in the heterogeneous group, the low-status students could not construct correct conceptions. Finally, even peer status in homogeneous high achievement group was the same at beginning, but students automatically differentiated peer status at the end of the study.