Abstract:
The study aimed at checking the existing level of understanding of concepts in the subject
of Chemistry among Class IX students and to investigate the effectiveness of concept formation
teaching model over traditional method on Class IX students’ achievement. It was an
experimental study in which concept formation teaching model was compared with traditional
method. A sample of 460 students (300 Boys and 160 girls) were selected from nine Government
High Schools for Boys and Girls of Rawalpindi city for administering an achievement test to
measure the existing level of understanding of concepts in the subject of Chemistry among Class
IX students. For experiment, sample size was 290. One hundred and forty three students in
experimental groups and one hundred and forty seven students in controlled groups were selected
because the classes were taken “as is”. Pre-test-Post-test Nonequivalent-Groups Design was used.
The students of experimental and controlled groups were taught concept formation teaching
model and traditional method respectively for three months. Pre-test and post-test were
administered to experimental and controlled groups at the beginning and end of the experiment.
31 lesson plans were made on the format of direct instruction from chapter No. 7 to 10 of
Chemistry textbook for Class IX published by Punjab Textbook Board. To determine the effects
of concept formation teaching model on achievement of Class IX students in the subject of
Chemistry, the significance of difference between the mean achievement scores of experimental
and controlled groups was tested at .05 level by applying t Test, Product-Moment Correlation and
analyses of covariance. Data analysis reveals that existing level of understanding of concepts in
the subject of Chemistry among Class IX students was not up to 50 percent. The students of
experimental and controlled groups were equal in pre-test at the beginning of the experiment. The
experimental groups outscored significantly the controlled groups on post-test showing the
supremacy of concept formation teaching model on traditional method. Hence the ultimate results
of the study indicated that concept formation teaching model was more effective as compared to
vtraditional method. Furthermore, concept formation teaching model appeared to be favorable for
both boys and girls for the understanding of Chemistry concepts.
