The Effects of Applying the 4MAT System to the Photosynthesis Unit in a Junior High School

• Main Authors: Tsai-Liang Liao, 廖彩良
• Other Authors: Hsin-Kai Wu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/23411753561320826136

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 科學教育研究所在職進修碩士班 === 95 === The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of applying a 4MAT system to the photosynthesis unit at a public junior high school in Taipei City. In order to achieve the purpose, this study included two seventh classes and designed instructional materials with two instructional approaches for the classes (i.e., lecture-based class and 4MAT class). The participants were categorized into 4 learning styles with David Kolb’s learning style inventory and took pre- and post-tests that were used to assess their conceptual understandings about photosynthesis. After the instruction, 24 students were interviewed to assess their learning preference. By comparing the pre- and post-test scores, the study finds that both classes show significant improvement in conceptual understandings. The performance of the 4MAT class is better than the lecture-based class on the post-test, but no significant difference is found. Additionally, low and middle achieving students seem to benefit more in the 4MAT class, while high achieving students appear to improve more in the lecture-based class. The results also show that the 4MAT approach helps students comprehend abstract and difficult concepts, and that the lecture-based approach is especially useful to support student learning basic knowledge. The 4MAT approach can help students who prefer concrete experiences as dominant learning ability perform better. Therefore, the results suggest that the 4MAT system is a useful instructional approach to designing activities for learners with different achieving levels and learning styles.