Brian L. Jones

Children's conceptions of the earth, sun and moon

Understanding of the Earth/Sun/Moon system represents a major cultural nexus in the history of ideas as well as being an important conceptual area in junior science teaching. The situation is one in which the objects in question can be observed but do not lend themselves to hands‐on experience in the case of the Sun and Moon or to obvious meaningful experience of the system in the case of the Earth. Children from 9 to 12 years of age were questioned using a clinical interview technique and stimulus materials, about the shape, size and motion of the Earth, Sun and Moon. A number of alternative views appear to be held. The use of a similar procedure with a group of children would seem to offer a powerful teaching methodology in which both teacher and students gain from the dialectic learning situation that is developed by this technique ‐ apart from providing insights concerning childrens understanding.

Mapping development in students’ understanding of vision using a cognitive structural model

This exploratory study took two items, which were designed to ascertain childrens understanding of the phenomenon of ‘seeing’, and used them to gather data over the K‐10 age range. One item was adapted from an earlier large‐scale survey by Adams et al. (1990); the other was based on a set of metaphors for ‘seeing’ designed by Guesne (1985). The data gathered were analysed in the context of a cognitive structural model. This analysis showed that, in relation to the concept of vision, the cognitive model selected was able to account for the ‘normal’ developmental sequence, as well as indicate some possible sequences which might help to explain the ‘alternative framework’ phenomenon in this case. There seems to be sufficient evidence from this study to warrant more detailed research in two directions. The first, replicating with a larger sample, the variables discussed in this paper, and the second, carrying out exploratory studies on concepts in other areas of science which have also documented the ‘altern...

Students' alternative frameworks: Towards a linguistic and cultural interpretation

The study attempts to show how students’ alternative frameworks can be explained in terms of linguistic and cultural effects. The interpretations are based on data provided by student dialogue associated with the theme: the nature of matter. Comparable groups of students in Tasmania and the Philippines were interviewed in their home languages: English, Tagalog and Ilocano, respectively. Two strategies were employed to deal with the task of differentiating between cultural and linguistic effects. The first involved a ‘triangulation’ comparison of student interview responses where the analysis was mainly at the level of discourse. The second strategy was based on comparative science vocabularies of the three languages concerned. The study is not simply about English and Philippines languages but attempts to provide insights into the more general debate about the relationship of language to perception and the robustness of different language(s) in dealing with established forms of scientific argument.

Children's understanding of the notions of solid and liquid in relation to some common substances

The nature of matter is a central theme both scientifically and culturally and thus is included as an area of study in most primary school science curricula. The theme apparently lends itself to the relatively easy provision of direct, purposeful experiences for beginning students. However, because of prior practical and linguistic experience from everyday life, children have already developed notions and language which may interfere with their efforts to understand scientists’ notions and language. Childrens understanding of solid and liquid has been inferred from data collected from individual interviews and from questionnaires to children (n=137) aged 7 to 12 years in Hobart, Tasmania. Childrens responses to questions about the forms of matter vary considerably according to the substances in question and some children appear to use language registers which give correct answers from invalid arguments even for what might appear to be non‐problematic exemplars. The findings highlight the need for teache...

‘Educating rita’: Is an academic science course for prospective infant and primary teachers appropriate

ConclusionOur decision to choose the Open University S101 Science: A Foundation Course represents a direct attempt on our part to provide a background in science for our prospective infant and primary teachers. Our objective that this course achieve parity with first year Faculty of Science courses may appear to be an unattainable goal, given the methodological problems that have to be faced for such a general purpose course. It would certainly not be feasible for a lecture staff of four persons were it not for the printed readers, texts, assignments, examinations, and audio-visual software purchased, with approval, from the Open University in the United Kingdom.Our pilot study in 1983 gave us some encouragement and, most interestingly, 10 out of the 17 students continued with Science study into Year 2 in 1984, thus committing them to the major study in science in Years 3 and 4. Given that three students failed, 10 out of 14 is a far higher retention rate than anything we have experienced previously.Clearly, the evaluation of our efforts to influence the teaching of science in Tasmanian primary schools must wait, but these evaluative studies should make a contribution to the research data on curriculum issues in Australia.This course could play an important in-service function for present primary teachers. We are hopeful that such a content-based approach to science teacher education may help to convince teachers to take the extensive range of available curriculum materials seriously.

Singaporean and Australian Students' Understanding of Vision

Abstract A model for the development of an understanding of how people see has been proposed on the basis of a questionnaire and interview study of a cross-section of Australian school students. The model, based on the SOLO model of cognitive development (Collis & Biggs, 1991), involves the building of connections between the eye, light and the object seen in the Ikonic and Concrete Symbolic modes of cognitive functioning. In order to assess the viability of the model across cultures, the questionnaire was administered to 116 primary and secondary school students in Singapore. This paper reports some details of how the model was supported in its most important respects. The few discrepancies might be explained in terms of environmental, linguistic and/or teaching factors.

Responses to an interactive science exhibit in a school setting

Unattended science and technology exhibits of both static and operational types have been an integral part of museum displays for many years. More recently interactive exhibits in which observers are encouraged to become part of the system of exhibits have become more common. A study was commenced to explore the impact and potential of low cost, unattended, interactive exhibitsset up singly in a normal school classroom without the distractions of a multiplicity of activities as is common in ‘science museums’. Three small groups of Grade 5/6 primary school children interacted with a ‘Falling Towers’ exhibit and their voluntary activities were recorded on videotape for later analysis. Children appeared to state the results of their activity in ways consistent with their expectations rather than with their most recent experience with the exhibit. The responses of girls, boys and mixed groups are reported.

Developing a taxonomy of science concepts based on a scale of empirical distance

The term ‘concept’ is used in different ways within educational literature and has at least two different, although related, referents in relation to science knowledge, namely, public knowledge and private understandings. A taxonomic structure for ‘science concepts’ (public knowledge) has been developed to provide a rationale for the choice of phenomena to be used in the investigation of students’ ‘concepts’ and also to act as a frame of reference for generating insights about the data to be collected. Furthermore, it may be a useful heuristic to predict other science concepts likely to be highly problematic in school teaching situations and thus worthy of detailed research. The taxonomy, called a ‘Scale of Empirical Distance’ (SED), enables science concepts to be mapped according to their degree of closeness to concrete realities. The scale shows a recognition of the empirical basis of science concepts and the role of human senses in the perception of the material world even though “absolute objectivity of observation is not a possible ideal of science” as Harre (1972) has noted. The scale uses two binary variables, namely, ‘visual’ and ‘tactile’, to generate four categories of science concepts ranging on a continuum from concrete to abstract. Some concepts related to ‘matter’ will be classified and discussed.