Dimitris Psillos

Teaching–learning sequences: aims and tools for science education research

One notable line of inquiry, aspects of which date back to the early 1980s, involves the design and implementation not of long‐term curricula, but of topic‐oriented sequences for teaching science. One distinguishing characteristic of a teaching–learning sequence (TLS) is its inclusion in a gradual research‐based volutionary process aiming at interlacing the scientific and the student perspective. In the present paper, which is introductory to the special issue, we attempt to serve a double purpose: on the one hand, we provide an overview of developments and trends with regard to TLSs and their classroom validation, discussing empirical studies, theoretical proposals, methodological tools and approaches to describing the design of these sequences in ordinary language, while on the other the paper serves as an introduction to this volume, making it easier for the reader to apprehend the processes of development and validation of research on TLSs.

Teaching Measurement in the Introductory Physics Laboratory

Traditionally physics laboratory courses at the freshman level have aimed to demonstrate various principles of physics introduced in lectures. Experiments tend to be quantitative in nature with experimental and data analysis techniques interwoven as distinct strands of the laboratory course.1 It is often assumed that, in this way, students will end up with an understanding of the nature of measurement and experimentation. Recent research studies have, however, questioned this assumption.2,3 They have pointed to the fact that freshmen who have completed physics laboratory courses are often able to demonstrate mastery of the mechanistic techniques (e.g., calculating means and standard deviations, fitting straight lines, etc.) but lack an appreciation of the nature of scientific evidence, in particular the central role of uncertainty in experimental measurement. We believe that the probabilistic approach to data analysis, as advocated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), will result i...

Pupils’ Representations of Electric Current before, during and after Instruction on DC Circuits

Abstract This study focuses on compulsory education pupils’ representations of electric current (14‐15 years). The subjects’ views in a Greek school were diagnosed and utilised in a constructivist approach to introducing DC circuits. Results suggested that various pupils’ views before and during the early stages of instruction can be modelled after an ‘energy framework’. The uses of this ‘energy framework’ in predicting and interpreting several phenomena, e.g. the Oersted experiment, the readings of ammeters in series and the short circuit are presented. After the introduction of the scientific model for current, several pupils’ views can be modelled after a ‘flow’ framework.

Issues and Questions Regarding the Effectiveness of Labwork

The effectiveness of labwork can be defined in two ways. A first definition is seen in comparing the actual activities of students during labwork to the intended activities (effectiveness 1). Determining effectiveness in this way makes sure that only the effectiveness of the labwork is determined, not of the whole teaching and learning approach. In a second definition, effectiveness is determined by comparing the actual learning outcomes after labwork with the aims and objectives set for a specific lab (effectiveness 2). The learning outcome of course isthe ultimate goal of teaching, but in most cases it can not be attributed to the effects of labwork alone.

Physics instruction from epistemological and didactical bases

We present criteria for the analysis and elaboration of the content of instruction, at middle school level, in a specific domain: physics. This content, which we call the ‘knowledge to be taught’, has to respect several constraints in order to be teachable in a real school. Here we have chosen to analyse in depth those constraints which are related to the specific features of the physics. One of the constraints is a goal which, very often, justifies physics teaching: the operational aspect of physics knowledge in everyday life. The other constraint is related to a crucial aspect of an experimental science: the need for ‘coherence’ between the formal aspects and their field of applicability. Our analysis is based on an epistemological approach to physics knowledge and on assumptions about learning. This analysis is related to the case of an innovative programme of teaching on electricity.

An Investigation of Teaching and Learning about Measurement Data and their Treatment in the Introductory Physics Laboratory

This study investigates aspects of first-year Physics undergraduate students’ understanding of measurement and data treatment after introductory instruction on measurement and data treatment. In the first part of the study we present key aspects of the design and structure of an innovative sequence, which employs metrological uncertainty and bayesian probability as primary concepts for the modelling of the content instead of the concepts of measurement error and frequentistic probability. In the second part we focus on interpretation of instrument readings by students who were engaged in this sequence. Besides we investigate the interpretation of instrument readings by students who were engaged in a conventional course that is based on a frequentistic scientific framework.

Causal structures and counter‐intuitive experiments in electricity

This study focuses on the similarities and differences in structure and meaning between pupils’ conceptions about steady state tasks and evolutionary tasks, in which the system under study undergoes changes over time. A nine‐item written questionnaire was given to 197 Greek secondary school pupils. Results showed that the majority of pupils employ causal structures for their predictions. Two models were identified: a ‘give’ model, applied by pupils in steady‐state tasks; and a ‘take’ model, applied in evolutionary tasks. Structural similarities and semantic differences were identified between these models. In the light of these results, the study also examined the types of experiments in introductory electricity that would or would not obtain a counter‐intuitive reaction in pupils.

Typical Didactical Activities in the Greek Early-Years Science Classroom: Do They Promote Science Learning?.

This paper presents an epistemological analysis of typical didactical activities noted in early‐years science lessons, which was carried out in an attempt to diagnose the extent to which the teaching practices adopted by early‐years educators are successful in supporting young children’s understanding in science. The analysis of didactical activities used a framework that allowed us to discover whether they promoted desired connections between theoretical ideas, evidence and the material world. Theoretical ideas, evidence and the material world are entities internal to scientific inquiry and, in educational contexts, connections between them are considered essential in assisting the development of young children’s scientific thinking. The results indicated that in the early‐years science classroom scientific activity was mainly confined to the representational level. Intervention practices into the material world were limited, and were based on collected evidence. No interventions based on ideas were identified in the science lessons. Missing links between evidence and theory and between ideas and the material world suggest that the didactical activities analysed did not promote scientific understanding.

Learning Process Studies

Learning processes will be analysed as “evolution of student’s ideas” or as “conceptual change” on a timescale of several hours. The idea is to follow a single student’s constructions “during” the whole process of learning in more detail, including analyses of learning effects. Part two discusses theoretical and methodological issues of such learning process studies. Here, the focus is on the unit of analysis (expressed ideas or conceptions) and on the relation between teaching and learning. In part three, a more recent study about the evolution of students’ ideas about gases is presented, describing learning by using three categories: A student expresses a new idea, a student increases the domain of validity of an idea, or a student establishes a link between several ideas and develops a network. In part four, another more recent study about analysing learning effects of the learning environment on single students learning is presented. Here, different types of resonances are used as categories, e.g. congruent or disgruent resonance, spontaneous or retarded resonance. Both studies come to grounded hypotheses how to improve teaching. In part five, more general issues about learning process studies are discussed

Multiple Causal Modelling of Electrical Circuits for Enhancing Knowledge Intelligibility

An epistemological analysis of scientific knowledge and a cognitive analysis of learners’ knowledge structures are drawn together to develop criteria for planning an instructional sequence on introductory electricity.