Supporting 7th-Grade Students' Model-Based Explanations about Energy Transformations through Design Thinking

Abstract

Learning environments should give opportunities for students to learn the topic of energy transformations that include interdisciplinary, and difficult to understand concepts meaningfully. For this purpose, design thinking, an innovative approach, was employed in the present study. In this context, a module based on design thinking on energy transformations was developed and implemented to 7th-grade students. In addition, the development of students' model-based explanations on the topic of energy transformations was examined. In the study designed as a design-based empirical research, pre-and post-model-based explanations created by students were used as data collection tools. Two rubrics were developed for components and sequences as elements of model-based explanations, benefiting from expert opinions for data analysis. As a result of the implementation of design thinking, it was revealed that the level of the components that the students used in relation to the concepts falling under energy transformations and of the sequences they established, in short, their model-based explanations improved. The current study contributes to the literature by providing information on how the design thinking approach supports the development of middle school students' model-based explanations about energy transformations.