Altering Students' Alternative Conseptions Through Inquiry
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Date
2003
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Publisher
University of Alabama Libraries
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate children's understandings of the concepts of energy in the form of electricity following inquiry-based instruction with the use of conceptual strategies. The questions directing this investigation were:
- What is the nature of student's alternative conceptions about electrical energy prior to inquiry-based instruction with the use of conceptual strategies?
- What is the nature of student's alternative conceptions about electrical energy following inquiry-based instruction with the use of conceptual strategies? This study was conducted in a sixth grade class at a middle school located in a small suburban city. This was the first year that the teacher researcher had taught science and the curriculum was somewhat new. As a teacher, this research was beneficial in order to improve the researcher's teaching methods as well as to encourage her students to become better learners. In this study a situation was created to provoke conceptual change in accordance with the framework of research concerning students' alternative conceptions on energy. The students' alternative conceptions had previously been identified by means of an interview administered by the classroom teacher. The class teacher selected the three members of the sample group because they were representative of the classroom population. Students' levels of understanding were scored using a rubric. All students' individual levels of understanding moved towards a more scientific conception of a simple circuit, electric currents, and determining how a flashlight worked.
Description
Electronic Thesis
Keywords
Electrical energy, Flashlights