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Table 5. Numbers of misconceptions in the pre- and posttests in the two groups
Group N
Pretest
Mean SD
Posttest
Mean SD
Adjusted
mean
Experimental 17 14.71 2.82 6.47 3.94 6.32
Control 17 14.41 3.97 8.59 4.73 8.74
Tests of the homogeneity of the regression coefficient revealed that interaction F between the independent variables
and the covariate was .097 (p = .758), which confirms the hypothesis of homogeneity of the regression coefficient.
The pretest scores were used as the covariate to check the significance of differences in changes in the numbers of
misconceptions in the pre- and posttest scores in the experimental and control groups. Table 6 indicates that there
were significant differences between the groups (F = 6.447, p = .016), with the number of corrected misconceptions
being higher in the experimental group than in the control group.
The data in Table 5 indicate that the mean number of misconceptions reduced by 8.24 in the experimental group and
by 5.82 in the control group, which demonstrates that the efficacy of misconception correction was significantly
higher for the conceptual-change learning system than for the general web-based learning environment.
Table 6. Summary of misconception-correction data from ANCOVA
Variance Source SS df MS F p
Covariate (Pretest Score) Score) 406.830 1 406.830 53.097 .000
Between Groups 49.399 1 49.399 6.447* .016
Error 237.523 31 7.662
Note. *p < .05.
Analysis of misconception correction
To further characterize the efficacy of the system in correcting any misconceptions and investigate the detailed
reasons for the findings, we analyzed pre- and posttest misconceptions of the experimental group. The
misconceptions could be categorized into two groups: (1) those that were difficult to correct—M20, M27, and M13,
with success rates of 7%, 14%, and 29%, respectively; and (2) those that were effectively corrected—M1, M6,
M12, M10, M4, M2, and M14, with success rates of 100%, 100%, 100%, 90%, 89%, 83%, and 83%, respectively.
The three misconceptions that were difficult to correct were attributable to misinterpretation of the basic definition of
voltage (M20) and fundamental electricity concepts affect follow-up learning of new conceptions about diodes (M13
and M27). On the other hand, the seven misconceptions that could be effectively corrected were categorized as being
associated with (1) the diode symbol, elementary model of a diode, and functioning of applicable circuits of a diode
(M1, M10, M12, and M14); and (2) abstract semiconductor characteristics (M2, M4, and M6). The reasons for the
success rate differing with the type of misconception correction are discussed in detail in Section 6.
Learning process
The learning performance and process recorded in the learning system were analyzed to further elucidate any
distinctions between the learning processes of individual learners. Three aspects of the learning performance and
process were analyzed:
1. Correction rate of misconceptions: The mean ratio of misconceptions corrected by each subject (the number of
corrected misconceptions after learning divided by the number of misconceptions before learning) was 58% in
the experimental group and 43% in the control group.
2. Learning effectiveness: A strong positive correlation existed between the mean learning time and the mean ratio
of misconceptions corrected in the experimental group (Pearson’s correlation coefficient r=.641, p=.006), but
there was no significant correlation in the control group (r = –.060, p = .819). This indicates that the ratio of
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