The Effect of Using Cognitive Conflict Strategy on Correcting Geographical Misconceptions of Grade Ten Female Social Studies' Students and their Attitudes toward the Subject

The study aimed to investigate grade-ten Social Studies students' perceptions of geographical concepts. It analyzed the effect of the cognitive-conflict strategies on correcting students' geographical misconceptions and their attitudes toward Social Studies. The study sample consisted of 51 grade-ten female students from Al-Batinah-North schools. The sample was divided into two groups: an experimental group n= 25 and a control group n=26. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers used a semi-experimental design and designed and used two instruments: the first was a geographical-concept test, consisted of 20 multiple-choice items, the other was an attitude scale towards the subject, consisted of 22 items. The results of the study revealed that the students had a deficiency in understanding the geographical concepts. There were statistically significant differences at a=0.05 between the score average of the experimental group of students who took the post concepts test. However, there were no statistically significant differences at a=0.05 in the students’ attitudes towards the subject. The study highlighted the importance of the use of alternative perceptions for geographical concepts and fixing them using new teaching strategies.