CHANGING STUDENTS’ MISCONCEPTIONS OF FLOATING AND SINKING USING HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES

The aim of this study is to develop hands-on activities and to investigate their effects in changing students' misconceptions of floating and sinking. It was conducted with 28 eighth-grade students. To assess students' understanding and the effects of the instruction based on hands-on activities, a diagnostic test, Floating and Sinking Conceptual Test (FSCT), was employed in the study. It was found out that the instruction based on hands-on activities did have a significant positive effect on students' understanding of flotation concepts and rules. Moreover, the hands-on activities designed for eight problematic areas where students commonly had difficulties helped them to replace their misconceptions with the scientific ones. It is suggested that further studies should be undertaken to highlight the question ‘Does the conceptual change strategy used in this study affect students' long-term memory?'