Ja. Rye et Pa. Rubba, AN EXPLORATION OF THE CONCEPT MAP AS AN INTERVIEW TOOL TO FACILITATE THE EXTERNALIZATION OF STUDENTS UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC CHANGE, Journal of research in science teaching, 35(5), 1998, pp. 521-546
The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness
of two different types of interviews-one that did (POSTICM) and one t
hat did not (POSTI) embed a concept-mapping process-to elicit students
' postinstructional understandings about chlorofluorocarbons and their
role in global atmospheric change (GAC). A chief criterion measure wa
s accordance, the degree to which students held the ideal postinstruct
ional understanding set forth in a teacher-expert concept map. After G
AC instruction that included concept-mapping activities, 34 eighth-gra
de science students were assigned randomly to groups and completed eit
her POSTICM or POSTI. These students and their leacher also completed
relatedness ratings of central concepts from the teacher-expert map. T
he Knowledge Network Organizing Tool(TM) was used to transform related
ness ratings to Pathfinder networks and compare nets to yield a studen
t to teacher similarity index (Pathfinder index). Regression analysis
revealed that type of interview did not predict accordance. However, m
ost POSTICM students perceived the concept-mapping interview component
to be helpful and affect positively their answers to the interview qu
estions. The Pathfinder index did predict (p = .003) accordance-the Pa
thfinder index was a reliable confirmatory measure of the degree to wh
ich students held the ideal postinstructional understanding.