Abstract
This study explored the effectiveness of digital video clips supported POE teaching strategy when applied to improve elementary school high-grade students’ alternative conceptions about the classification of vertebrates. It also tried to understand elementary school high-grade students’ alternative conceptions about the classification of vertebrates. The POE teaching strategy was applied in the teaching of 26 students (Male: 15; Female: 11), while the traditional way was applied in the teaching of 23 students (Male: 12; Female: 11). This study tried to understand students’ alternative conceptions about classification of vertebrates, and tried to test the effectiveness of the POE teaching strategy developed in this study. The results of this study show that elementary school high-grade students tend to classify vertebrates based on the animal prototypes they know about and their distinguishing features, which leads to many alternative conceptions. The results also prove that digital video clips supported POE teaching strategy is effective in improving elementary school high-grade students’ alternative conceptions about the classification of vertebrates.