History-based instruction enriched with various sources of situational interest on the topic of the atom: The effect on students’ achievement and interest
Özet
This study examines the effect of history-based instruction on the topic of the atom
on students’ academic achievement and their interest in the history of science, investigating as
well the relationship between student interest and academic achievement. The sample of the
study consisted of two groups of freshman students from an undergraduate elementary science
teachers program. The same chemistry instructor taught the groups, which were randomly
assigned as an experimental and a control group. The students in the control group received
traditional teacher-centered instruction, while the experimental group students were taught the
topic of the atom using history-based instruction enriched with various sources of situational
interest such as novelty, autonomy, social involvement, and knowledge acquisition (NASK).
Data gathering instruments were the Atom Achievement Test and the History of Science
Interest Scale, administered to both of the groups before and after the instruction. The data
were analyzed with the independent-samples t test, the paired-samples t test, and one-way
ANCOVA statistical analysis. The results showed that the history-based instruction including
NASK was more effective than traditional instruction in improving the students’ learning
of the subject of the atom as well as in stimulating and improving students’ interest in the
history of science. Further, students with high interest displayed significantly better achievement than students with low interest. The better learning of the topic of the atom was more
pronounced in the case of students with a high interest in the history of science compared to
students with moderate or low interest
