A Comparison of the Effects of Multiple Visual Examples and Nonexamples Versus Prototypical Examples on Science Concept Learning: An Exploratory Study Based Upon the Concept of Photosynthesis.

Two researcher-produced, standard-length videos on photosynthesis (and accompanying ancillary materials) were developed w ith the input of educators and content experts. The control treatm ent video script contained the standard num ber of prototypical examples and graphics based high school textbooks. The experimental treatm ent video script was based on the theory of conceptual change. Two student focus groups m et daily for one w eek and reviewed portions of the original experimental treatm ent script for clarity, brevity, and choice and placement of examples and nonexamples. Their suggestions and conceptual change have implications for curriculum design. The m ain research question of this study was: Do students learn more from a biology video supplem ented w ith small-multiple examples and nonexamples than one w ith prototypical examples? The experimental treatm ent group students perform ed significantly higher on a subject knowledge posttest than did the control treatm ent group students (p<.05). Three research questions were included in this study. The first subqyestion was: Do students of high, m edium, or low ability learn more from a biology video supplem ented w ith small-multiple examples and examples and nonexamples than one w ith prototypical examples? The second subquestion was: Do students of high, m edium , or low ability retain more from a biology video supplem ented w ith small-multiple examples and nonexamples than one w ith prototypical examples? The third research subquestion was closely related: Do high, m edium, or low ability students' concept maps exhibit greater concept elaboration and stronger linkages betw een concepts from a biology video supplem ented w ith small-multiple examples and nonexamples than one with prototypical examples? The experimental treatm ent group students perform ed significantly higher on a retention test than the control treatm ent group students (p<.05). The high-ability students in both the control treatm ent and experimental treatm ent group showed no appreciable differences in their concept maps. However, the m edium ability experimental treatment students' concept m aps show ed a greater depth of knowledge about photosynthesis and more precise linkages between concepts than the maps of the control treatment group students. The low-ability experimental treatm ent students' concept m aps revealed a blend of their previous alternative conceptions and the scientifically acceptable knowledge about photosynthesis.

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