Tajuk 95: Contoh PROBLEM STATEMENT 2

Berikut adalah contoh pernyataan ke2. Sila amati perkataan yang bergaris.

Kajian 2:

Constructive animation for enhance students’ conceptual change in Electrochemistry

 Othman Talib (2005)

Statement of Problem

Science education in Malaysia in general has been in the limelight mainly due to the many negative testimonies on the outcomes of science learning. Reports done by the Examination Syndicate Ministry of Education Malaysia regarding the chemistry performance in the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination for example, found that most students failed to acquire basic conceptual understandings (MOE, 2004a) and had problems with analyzing abstract processes and failed to classify, synthesize and evaluate information.

Specifically in chemistry education, one of the current aims of teaching chemistry in Malaysia is to provide students with the knowledge and skills that would enable them to solve problems from specific types of calculations to open-ended situations. However, the latest findings of the SPM Performance Report 2003 (MOE, 2004a) by the Examination Syndicate regarding the chemistry performance in the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination are incongruent with this aim. It was found that the “majority of candidates did not understand and master the concepts of chemistry” (MOE, 2004a, p.14). In particular, the report found weaknesses in the answering of electrochemistry-related questions and concluded that the majority of candidates failed to acquire basic conceptual understandings (MOE, 2004a).

In addition to the weaknesses reported by the Examination Syndicate, a study by Che Lah and Loke (2004) revealed that secondary students in Malaysia have difficulties in proper understanding of abstract electrochemical processes, such as:

1.    Students think that two different metals are used in a galvanic cell because they have different electrical charges.

2.    Students know that electrons should be written in half-equations but do not know how to write the equation.

3.    Students are confused when identifying an electrode as anode or cathode.

From the perspective of teaching, recent research by Daud (2003) revealed that a majority of chemistry teachers in Malaysia use the direct transmission approach to explain and draw electrochemical cells, whilst students passively listen and take notes. He stated that there were cases where chemistry teachers tried to cover the syllabus as quickly as possible in order to give more attention to tackling examination questions. These views are consistent with those of Hutchinson (2000, p.3), when he claimed that in general, chemistry in the United State of America is taught to students mostly based on “expository and explanatory statements of concepts and applications…clearly the pervasiveness of traditional approach.”

Therefore in such situations, the implementation of constructivist strategies for conceptual change in teaching and learning science through animation which emphasizes an active search for meaning and understanding by individual students is crucial in the context of Malaysian science education system. By doing so, students are engaged in learning that involves them in constructing personal meaning for conceptual change of the subject matter.