Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education (한국과학교육학회지)

The Korean Association for Science Education (한국과학교육학회)
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Assessment of Students' Cognitive Conflicts and Anxiety

  • Published : 2008.05.30
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Abstract

Cognitive conflict is well recognized as an important factor in conceptual change and is widely used in developing constructivism-based curricula. However, cognitive conflicts can also contribute to student anxiety during learning, which, when not properly addressed, can have negative impacts on students' motivation and achievement. Therefore, instructors need to be aware of the impacts of introducing cognitive conflicts in their instruction. We need a practical instrument that can help identify the existence and features of cognitive conflicts introduced by the instruction and the resulting anxiety. Based on the literature on studies of cognitive conflicts and student anxiety, we developed a quantitative instrument, the In-class Conflict and Anxiety Recognition Evaluation (iCARE), and used it to monitor the status of students' cognitive conflicts and anxiety in Physics by Inquiry (PBI) classes. In this paper, we introduce this instrument and present the types of information that can be obtained. Research and pedagogical values of this instrument are also discussed.

Keywords

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