Arab Educational Information Network

The study aimed at identifying the effect of the use of cognitive conflict maps in the correction of the alternative conceptions implied in the unit of the structure of the substance prescribed for 1st year prep school students and in developing their critical thinking skills through the study of this unit. The problem of the study was identified through the spread of alternative conceptions about the concepts implied in the unit of the structure of the substance. The sample of the study consisted of 88 students divided into two equal groups, one experimental and another control. The tools of the study consisted of the student book and the teacher's manual for the teaching of the structure of the substance after it was modified according to the cognitive conflict maps. The experimental group studied by the use of the unit after it has been modified, while the control group studied the same content using the traditional method. The tools of measurement in the study consisted of the use of a test for the correction of the alternative conceptions and the scale of the critical thinking skills. Results indicated that the use of the cognitive conflict maps in teaching the unit of the structure of the substance in teaching science had a significant effect in correcting the alternative conceptions of 1st year prep school students and in developing their critical thinking skills. (Published Abstract)