Introduction Real understanding of chemistry demands the bringing together of conceptual understandings in a meaningful way. According to Johnstone and Bodnercited in Sirhan (2007), what is taught by teachers is not always what is learned by students. They added that while students show some evidence of learning and understanding in examination papers, research showed evidence of misconceptions and rote learning of certain areas of basic chemistry which are still not understood. Johnstone again indicated that the nature of chemistry concepts and the way the concepts are represented (macroscopic, microscopic, or representational) make chemistry difficult to learn. Ozkaya (2002) attributes learning difficulties in electrochemistry to a general lack of conceptual understanding and attributes this to insufficient textbook explanations of these concepts. Research has shown that students have difficulties in conceptualizing redox reactions (Osterlund, 2009). According to Sirhan (2007), numerous reports supported the view that the interplay between macroscopic and microscopic worlds is a source of difficulty for many chemistry learners. Conceptual change points to the development and transformation of students understanding from their naive conceptions to scientific explanation (Uzuntiryaki, 2003).Conceptual change theory takes constructivism as its foundation, and addresses how thoughts must be altered in order to coincide with scientific theory (Meyers, 2007).The model has direct implications regarding how to construct instruction to achieve conceptual change (Read, 2004). Chemistry instruction should be designed to present anomalies so as to create cognitive conflict. This will create a disequilibrium, which leads to dissatisfaction with the existing concept, and ultimately to a willingness to accommodate a new concept. Teaching chemistry should therefore focus on providing students with opportunities in which they have cognitive conflict and develop different structures based on their experience. Conceptual change can be accomplished if students are given opportunity to be aware of their ideas, to encounter ideas other than their own and to realize the deficiency in their reasoning. According to Balci (2014), conceptual change texts are texts designed to change students' alternative conceptions and focus on strategies to promote conceptual change by challenging students' alternative conceptions, producing dissatisfaction, followed by a correct explanation which is both understandable and plausible to the students.

This study aimed at enhancing pre-service teachers’ understanding and attitudes toward naming and reactions of organic compounds using the jigsaw approach. It was a descriptive study that used a quantitative approach in collecting the data for analysis. The research design was a quasi-experimental one, which adapted the non-randomised control group pre-test/post-test intact class design. A sample of 144 pre-service teachers, comprising 72 in the experimental group and 72 in the control group were engaged in the study. Intact classes were used for the study; thus, the sample selection was non-randomised. ‘Organic Chemistry Concept Understanding Test’ (OCCUT) in the form of a pre-test and a post-test as well as an ‘Organic Chemistry Attitude Scale’ (OCAS) were the instruments used for the study. The reliability indices of the pre-test and the post-test were 0.721 and 0.724 respectively, whereas, Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the ‘OCAS’ was 0.899. This study found that in terms of the pre-service teachers’ prior knowledge on naming and reactions of organic compounds, the experimental group and the control group both had more misunderstanding and partial understanding than a sound understanding of the concepts. The findings further revealed that the majority of the pre-service teachers in the experimental group had a sound understanding of the naming and reactions of organic compounds after they were taught through the jigsaw approach. Nevertheless, quite a large number of the pre-service teachers in the control group continue to show a misunderstanding of the concepts after they were taught through the traditional lecture-method. Again, the study found that the jigsaw approach enhanced the pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward the organic chemistry concepts than the traditional lecture-method.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0952/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>