MethodologyParticipantsA number of

Methodology
Participants
A number of 329 ninth-grade junior high school Greek students, who were distributed in 18 classrooms from different schools located in the area of central Greece, took place in the present study. The age of the participants was 14–15, 52% of which were female and 48% male. Students were of different socioeconomic status and living conditions.
Measurements
Data were collected during one school year through paperand- pencil tests. The instruments used were the following:
Field dependence/independence (FDI). FDI ability of the subjects was assessed by a version of the Witkin et al. (1971) Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). This is a timed test (20 min) in which the subject’s task was to locate and outline simple figures concealed in complex ones. In this study a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.84 was obtained. Convergence/divergence (CD). A six-item test was used to measure the extent of divergency of the subjects. Each item substantially constituted a mini test from itself. Briefly, the six mini-tests asked students to do the following kind of tasks: test-1: to generate words of the same or similar meaning to those given, test-2: to construct as many sentences as possible using four given specific words in each sentence, the words to be used in the form as given, test-3: to draw up to five different pictures to relate to the idea of a given word, test-4: to write as many things as possible that have a common trait, e.g., things that are round or that are round more often than any other shape, test-5: to think and write as many words as they could that begin with one given letter and end with another given letter, test-6: to list all of the ideas they could about a given topic whether or not it seemed important to them. The whole test had been widely used by Bahar (1999). It had also been used by Danili and Reid (2006) for measuring divergency of a Greek student sample. For the measures in this study, the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the instrument is 0.76. Logical thinking (LTH). Pupils’ logical thinking abilities were measured with the Lawson paper-and-pencil test of formal reasoning (Lawson, 1978). The test consists of 15 items involving the following: conservation of weight (1 item), displaced volume (1 item), control of variables (4 items), proportional reasoning (4 items), combinational reasoning (2 items) and probabilistic reasoning (3 items). The students had to justify their answers. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained for the present sample. Pupils’ achievement, concerning their understanding of the particulate nature and the changes of state of matter. The test consists of 3 parts covering the following topics: the particulate nature of matter (first part), the properties of state as a result of the collective behavior of particles (second part) and the changes of state that is: melting, boiling, evaporation and condensation (third part). A detailed description of all the parts is given in the Appendix. In short, the first part includes three items that refer separately to the solid state (which characterized by the number 1 in the Appendix), the liquid state (number 2 in the Appendix) and the gas state (number 3 in the Appendix). The second part includes two items that refer to a particular substance in three different temperatures (number 4) and three different substances in normal (same) conditions (number 5).

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

MetodologiPesertaSejumlah 329 kelas sembilan SMP Yunani siswa, yang didistribusikan di 18 kelas dari sekolah yang berbeda yang terletak di daerah pusat kota Yunani, berlangsung dalam penelitian ini. Usia peserta pada 14-15, 52% dari yang adalah wanita dan 48% laki-laki. Murid status sosial ekonomi yang berbeda dan kondisi hidup.PengukuranData yang dikumpulkan selama satu tahun sekolah melalui tes paperand-pensil. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah sebagai berikut:Field dependence/independence (FDI). FDI ability of the subjects was assessed by a version of the Witkin et al. (1971) Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). This is a timed test (20 min) in which the subject’s task was to locate and outline simple figures concealed in complex ones. In this study a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.84 was obtained. Convergence/divergence (CD). A six-item test was used to measure the extent of divergency of the subjects. Each item substantially constituted a mini test from itself. Briefly, the six mini-tests asked students to do the following kind of tasks: test-1: to generate words of the same or similar meaning to those given, test-2: to construct as many sentences as possible using four given specific words in each sentence, the words to be used in the form as given, test-3: to draw up to five different pictures to relate to the idea of a given word, test-4: to write as many things as possible that have a common trait, e.g., things that are round or that are round more often than any other shape, test-5: to think and write as many words as they could that begin with one given letter and end with another given letter, test-6: to list all of the ideas they could about a given topic whether or not it seemed important to them. The whole test had been widely used by Bahar (1999). It had also been used by Danili and Reid (2006) for measuring divergency of a Greek student sample. For the measures in this study, the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the instrument is 0.76. Logical thinking (LTH). Pupils’ logical thinking abilities were measured with the Lawson paper-and-pencil test of formal reasoning (Lawson, 1978). The test consists of 15 items involving the following: conservation of weight (1 item), displaced volume (1 item), control of variables (4 items), proportional reasoning (4 items), combinational reasoning (2 items) and probabilistic reasoning (3 items). The students had to justify their answers. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained for the present sample. Pupils’ achievement, concerning their understanding of the particulate nature and the changes of state of matter. The test consists of 3 parts covering the following topics: the particulate nature of matter (first part), the properties of state as a result of the collective behavior of particles (second part) and the changes of state that is: melting, boiling, evaporation and condensation (third part). A detailed description of all the parts is given in the Appendix. In short, the first part includes three items that refer separately to the solid state (which characterized by the number 1 in the Appendix), the liquid state (number 2 in the Appendix) and the gas state (number 3 in the Appendix). The second part includes two items that refer to a particular substance in three different temperatures (number 4) and three different substances in normal (same) conditions (number 5).

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 2:

Metodologi
Peserta
Sejumlah 329 kelas sembilan SMP siswa Yunani, yang didistribusikan di 18 ruang kelas dari sekolah yang berbeda yang terletak di daerah pusat kota Yunani, berlangsung dalam penelitian ini. Usia peserta adalah 14-15, 52% dari yang adalah perempuan dan 48% laki-laki. Siswa status dan kondisi kehidupan sosial ekonomi yang berbeda.
Pengukuran
Data dikumpulkan selama satu tahun sekolah melalui tes pensil paperand-. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah sebagai berikut:
ketergantungan Bidang / kemandirian (FDI). Kemampuan FDI dari subyek dinilai dengan versi Witkin dkk. (1971) Grup Tertanam Angka Test (GEFT). Ini adalah tes waktunya (20 menit) di mana tugas subjek adalah untuk mencari dan menguraikan tokoh sederhana tersembunyi di yang kompleks. Dalam penelitian ini koefisien reliabilitas alpha Cronbach 0,84 diperoleh. Convergence / divergence (CD). Sebuah tes enam-item digunakan untuk mengukur sejauh mana hal menyimpang dari subyek. Setiap item substansial merupakan tes mini dari dirinya sendiri. Secara singkat, enam mini-tes meminta siswa untuk melakukan jenis berikut tugas:-test 1: untuk menghasilkan kata-kata dari makna yang sama atau mirip dengan yang diberikan, tes-2: untuk membangun sebanyak kalimat mungkin menggunakan empat kata-kata tertentu yang diberikan di setiap kalimat, kata-kata yang akan digunakan dalam bentuk seperti yang diberikan, tes-3: untuk menarik hingga lima gambar yang berbeda untuk berhubungan dengan ide dari kata tertentu, uji-4: untuk menulis sebagai banyak hal mungkin yang memiliki ciri umum, misalnya, hal-hal yang bulat atau yang bulat lebih sering daripada bentuk lainnya, tes-5: untuk berpikir dan menulis kata-kata sebanyak yang mereka bisa yang dimulai dengan satu diberikan surat dan diakhiri dengan surat lain yang diberikan, tes-6 : untuk daftar semua ide mereka bisa tentang suatu topik tertentu atau tidak tampaknya penting bagi mereka. Seluruh tes telah banyak digunakan oleh Bahar (1999). Ini juga telah digunakan oleh Danili dan Reid (2006) untuk mengukur hal menyimpang dari sampel siswa Yunani. Untuk langkah-langkah dalam penelitian ini, koefisien reliabilitas alpha Cronbach instrumen adalah 0,76. Berpikir logis (LTH). Kemampuan berpikir logis murid diukur dengan tes kertas dan pensil Lawson penalaran formal (Lawson, 1978). Tes terdiri dari 15 item yang melibatkan berikut: konservasi berat (1 item), Volume pengungsi (1 item), kontrol variabel (4 item), penalaran proporsional (4 item), penalaran kombinasional (2 item) dan penalaran probabilistik ( 3 item). Para siswa harus membenarkan jawaban mereka. Koefisien reliabilitas alpha A Cronbach 0,79 diperoleh untuk sampel ini. Prestasi murid, mengenai pemahaman mereka tentang sifat partikel dan perubahan keadaan materi. Tes terdiri dari 3 bagian yang meliputi topik-topik berikut: sifat partikel materi (bagian pertama), sifat-sifat negara sebagai akibat dari perilaku kolektif dari partikel (bagian kedua) dan perubahan negara yaitu: mencair, mendidih, penguapan dan kondensasi (bagian ketiga). Sebuah penjelasan rinci tentang semua bagian diberikan dalam Lampiran. Singkatnya, bagian pertama mencakup tiga item yang merujuk secara terpisah untuk keadaan padat (yang ditandai dengan nomor 1 dalam Lampiran), keadaan cair (nomor 2 dalam Lampiran) dan negara gas (nomor 3 di Lampiran). Bagian kedua mencakup dua item yang mengacu pada zat tertentu dalam tiga suhu yang berbeda (nomor 4) dan tiga substansi berbeda dalam normal (sama) kondisi (nomor 5).