Kajian Mengenai Kefahaman Pelajar Tingkatan Empat Terhadap Konsep Asas Jirim dan Zarah The Understanding of The Basic Concept of Matter and Particle

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the existence of alternative framework among the form four students and their understanding on the basic concept of matter and particle. The objective of the study is to examine the existence of alternative frameworks and identify basic understanding of the concepts of matter and particles of student demographic status. The research participants for this study include 100 form four students from a school in the district of Butterworth, Penang. Instrument used in this study is a structural questionnaire that includes 19 questions and the time frame given was an hour. The basic concept of matter tested here focus on the definition of matter, interconnection between things and matter, the existence of three state of matter and the classification of matter and non-matter. Whereas the basic concepts of particle tested in this research focus on the definition of atom and molecule, arrangement of particles in the three states of matter, the difference in the movement of the particles in the three states of matter and the characteristics of particles in matter. Two types of statistics used in this study are descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistical methods used to obtain the number of the percentage of students involving frequency, achievement scores, the mean and standard deviation, while the inferential statistics using independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA. Independent samples t-test was used to identify the differences of understanding the basic concepts of matter and particles between boys and girls. One-way ANOVA was used to identify the differences of understanding the basic concepts of matter and particles between Malay, Chinese and Indian. The results of this study show the existence of alternative framework, which is one of the causes that affect the students', learning process on the basic concept of matter and particle. The results of the study also show there is a significant difference in the mean score for the concept of matter and particle among gender. The results of the study also further show there is no significant difference in the mean score for the concept of matter and particle among races. The science teachers in the school should emphasise more to make the students understand the concept of matter and particle. The teachers also should properly plan and execute appropriate strategies in order to decrease the formation of alternative framework and increase the students' understanding on the basic concept of matter and particle.

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti kerangka alternatif dan kefahaman pelajar tingkatan empat terhadap konsep asas jirim dan zarah. Justeru, objektif kajian yang dibina adalah bertujuan mengkaji kewujudan kerangka alternatif dan seterusnya mengenal pasti kefahaman konsep asas jirim dan zarah terhadap status demografi pelajar. Seramai 100 orang pelajar tingkatan empat dari sebuah sekolah di daerah Butterworth, Pulau Pinang telah dipilih untuk dijadikan sampel kajian. Instrumen kajian menggunakan 19 soalan soal selidik berbentuk struktur yang diedarkan kepada pelajar untuk dijawab dalam tempoh masa satu jam. Konsep asas jirim yang diuji berfokuskan kepada definisi jirim, menghubungkaitkan benda dengan jirim, menyatakan tiga keadaan jirim, serta pengkelasan bahan-bahan jirim dan bukan jirim, manakala konsep zarah yang diuji pula berfokuskan kepada definisi atom dan molekul, menyatakan susunan zarah-zarah dalam tiga keadaan jirim, perbezaan pergerakan zarah-zarah dalam tiga keadaan jirim dan sifat-sifat zarah jirim. Dua jenis statistik yang digunakan dalam kajian ini adalah statistik deskriptif dan statistik inferensi. Kaedah statistik deskriptif digunakan bagi mendapatkan bilangan peratusan pelajar yang melibatkan kekerapan, skor pencapaian, min dan sisihan piawai, manakala statistik inferensi menggunakan Ujian-t sampel bebas dan ANOVA satu hala. Ujian-t sampel bebas yang digunakan bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti perbezaan kefahaman konsep asas jirim dan zarah antara pelajar lelaki dan pelajar perempuan. ANOVA satu hala pula digunakan bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti perbezaan kefahaman konsep asas jirim dan zarah antara pelajar Melayu, Cina dan India. Keputusan kajian mendapati kewujudan kerangka alternatif adalah antara penyebab permasalahan yang mengganggu proses pembelajaran pelajar terhadap konsep asas jirim dan zarah. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan min skor kefahaman konsep asas jirim dan zarah antara jantina pelajar adalah berbeza secara signifikan. Selain daripada itu, dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa min skor kefahaman konsep asas jirim dan zarah antara kaum pelajar adalah tidak berbeza secara signifikan. Adalah diharapkan guru sains di sekolah akan sentiasa memberi perhatian yang sepenuhnya tentang kefahaman konsep asas jirim dan zarah agar dapat merancang dan melaksanakan strategi yang berkesan agar kewujudan kerangka alternatif dapat dikurangkan pada tahap minimum dan seterusnya dapat meningkatkan lagi kefahaman pelajar dalam konsep asas jirim dan zarah.