View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SHAREOK repository UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE METACONCEPTUALLY-ENHANCED SIMULATION-BASED INQUIRY LEARNING: EFFECTS ON THE 8TH GRADE STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL CHANGE AND SCIENCE EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By KUN HUANG Norman, Oklahoma 2011 METACONCEPTUALLY-ENHANCED SIMULATION-BASED INQUIRY LEARNING: EFFECTS ON THE 8TH GRADE STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL CHANGE AND SCIENCE EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY BY ______________________________ Dr. Xun Ge, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Howard Crowson ______________________________ Dr. Deniz Eseryel ______________________________ Dr. Patricia Hardré ______________________________ Dr. Timothy Laubach _____________________________ Dr. Raymond Miller © Copyright by KUN HUANG 2011 All Rights Reserved. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family for their unconditional love. To Jun: thank you for your love, patience, and sacrifice. Your action speaks louder than words. Never in my entire PhD process did you lose your patience or discourage me in what I was doing. You supported me in every possible way. I am grateful to have you as my lifetime partner. To Ian: mom owes you. From a very young age you learned that mom needed to study when other moms were with their kids. Mom promises to spend more time with you, to watch you grow up as a fine young man. To parents (Jujun Huang and Liru Wei): mom and dad, thank you for planting in me from early childhood the desire for more education. Thank you for your sacrifice and unfailing love, care, and encouragement. To sister (Qiong Huang): my dear sister, we missed a lot of time being together like we used to. Thank you for your understanding and support, and for being with our parents when I am separated by distance. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dear Heavenly Father, I am the work of your hand. Thank you for your discipline. Thank you for never giving up on me and bringing me back every time I went astray. Thank you for blessing me with a wonderful advisor. Thank you for opening the doors for me. Father, teach me your way as I begin the next chapter of life. My deepest gratitude is to my advisor, Dr. Xun Ge. This dissertation would not be possible without you. Since day one of my doctoral study, my every step shows your thoughtful mentoring. You guide me but give me enough freedom to explore on my own; support me in every possible way but also challenge me to work to the best of my potential. It has been you who led me through all the mountains and valleys in this journey… words fall short in expressing my appreciation for you. I am fortunate to have great committee members – Dr. Mike Crowson, Dr. Deniz Eseryel, Dr. Patricia Hardré, Dr. Raymond Miller, and Dr. Timothy Laubach. Thank you for always being available to discuss with me research ideas, for raising insightful questions, and for sharing your expertise and resources. My gratitude is due to Mr. Jerry Privett, Mr. John Braly, and Ms. Mary Hendrick for giving me the opportunity to conduct the study at the Irving Middle School, to my friends and colleagues Victor Law, Karen Chen, and Kui Xie for continuous encouragement and support, and to my supervisor Dr. Vanneise Collins for giving me time to work on the dissertation before taking on the new job. Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks to pastors and members of the Southern Oklahoma Chinese Baptist Church and the Glory Chinese Baptist Church in Texas. My special thanks to Pastor Morris for your careful proofreading of my dissertation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Study Background ........................................................................................................... 3 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................... 7 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 10 Understanding the Background: Overview of the Constructs ...................................... 10 Conceptual Change ................................................................................................... 10 Epistemological Beliefs ............................................................................................. 17 Metaconceptual Thinking .......................................................................................... 32 Linking Together: Examining the Relationships .......................................................... 39 Epistemological Beliefs and Conceptual Change ..................................................... 40 Metaconceptual Thinking and Conceptual Change .................................................. 42 Epistemological Beliefs and Metaconceptual Thinking ............................................ 46 General Summary ..................................................................................................... 49 Situating the Study: Simulation-Based Inquiry Learning ............................................. 50 Defining Inquiry Learning and Simulation ............................................................... 51 Inquiry Learning, Simulation, and Conceptual Change ........................................... 52 Inquiry Learning, Simulation, and Epistemological Beliefs ..................................... 56 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 58 General Question ...................................................................................................... 58 Operational Questions .............................................................................................. 58 CHAPTER 3: PILOT STUDY .......................................................................................... 60 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 60 Study Design ................................................................................................................. 61 Research Participants, Context, and Curriculum .......................................................... 62 Instructional Intervention .............................................................................................. 64 Computer Simulations ............................................................................................... 64 Inquiry Activities ....................................................................................................... 67 Simulation Guide ...................................................................................................... 67 Instruments .................................................................................................................... 74 Conceptual Evaluations ............................................................................................ 74 v Epistemological Beliefs Survey ................................................................................. 77 Science Epistemological Beliefs Survey .................................................................... 79 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 80 Results ........................................................................................................................... 83 Coding and Scoring .................................................................................................. 83 Preliminary Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 91 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 92 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 101 Interpretations of the Pilot Study Findings ............................................................. 101 Limitations of Pilot Study........................................................................................ 106 Additional Findings ................................................................................................ 107 Lessons Learned and Potential Modifications in the Main Study .......................... 109 CHAPTER 4: MAIN STUDY ........................................................................................ 111 Participants and Context