Effect of a conflict map-based teaching strategy on motivation and conceptual change: A case study of junior high school geography lessons

The present study was designed to assist in the development of geography lessons for the second year of junior high school by applying the theoretical framework of conflict maps (Tsai, 2000) to learning about Japan from a global perspective. Effects of teaching strategies using conflict maps on cognitive and motivational changes were explored with a class of 14 students. Quantitative analysis of the results from questionnaires and interpretive analysis of free descriptions obtained from the students in the class before and after the experimental unit and after the lessons suggested the following changes: (a) The teaching strategy of conflict maps enhanced the students' motivation for applying their knowledge to critical events by relating preceding concepts (microscopic comprehension, i.e., the discrepancy between geographical events in Japan and in the rest of the world) to scientific concepts (macroscopic comprehension, i.e., the regularity of geographical events on a global dimension); (b) the conflict map teaching strategy of applying information technology (IT) in terms of perceptual events to simulate topography enhanced the students' integrative learning motivation; and