Abstract
The study developed an online course, Lesson Seasons, based on the theory of conceptual change. The main issues addressed in this study are: if senior high school students make progress after the online course, if students’ spatial ability influences their learning about the reason for the seasons, and what are students’ opinions about this online course. There were 76 eleventh grade students participating in this study in a senior high school at Taipei County, including 31 males and 45 females. The results showed that students’ understanding about the reason for the seasons made significant progress and those who had high spatial ability experienced even more progress. The qualitative data indicated that the animations in the online course played a major role in promoting students’ learning and in facilitating change in their concepts about seasons. In interviews, students reported that the animations increased their motivation to learn because of the interactive interface and the displaying of abstract concepts in concrete ways.
| Keywords: | alternative conception; conceptual change; computer simulation; the reason for the seasons |
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