Teaching and Learning the Control of Variables Strategy in the Oscillation Phenomena Using Open Problem-based Approach
Published:
Apr 17, 2026
Keywords:
control of variables strategy inquiry open-ended problem secondary education
Abstract
This study focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of two different teaching and learning approaches of the Control of Variables Strategy (CVS), using Open-ended Problems (OP) within the phenomenon of oscillations. The students were split into 2 groups, where the teaching approach of the Valid Experiments Group (VEG) emphasized the subskill IN (Interpreting), using only unconfounded experiments, while the Non-Valid Experiments Group (NVEG) focused on the subskill UN (Understanding), including also confounded experiments. The participants were 24 students in the 9th grade. The VEG group showed greater improvement in the ID and IN subskills, while the NVEG group outperformed in PL, exhibiting signs of deeper metacognitive awareness despite persistent difficulties in UN.
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References
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