The Effect of Metacognitive Supported Argument-Based Learning Approach on Conceptual Change and Metacognition in Physics Education

The process of conceptual change begins when a preconception of a student fails to solve a problem. It ends when the student abandons his preconception and accepts a scientific concept. Although the theory and variables of conceptual change have been defined, how the theory would be implemented in a class environment has not been defined. For this reason, a course incorporating an argumentation approach supported with metacognitive strategies in accordance with the theory of conceptual change was designed and implemented for the subject of special relativity theory. A qualitatively dominant status mixed-method approach was used as the research design. The participants of the study were 51, 10th-grade students studying at a secondary school. Data were collected with qualitative and quantitative measurement tools. It was concluded that the applied course contributed positively to the students' conceptual changes and regulation of cognition (planning, monitoring, evaluating).