George Papageorgiou

Do Particle Ideas Help or Hinder Pupils’ Understanding of Phenomena?

This paper addresses the question of whether particle ideas help or hinder young pupils’ understanding of changes of state and dissolving. Two matched groups in a primary school in Greece (ages 10/11, n = 20 and n = 19) were respectively taught one of two parallel lesson schemes. Covering the same phenomena, one scheme incorporated particle ideas, and the other did not. Data were collected pre and post intervention through individual interviews (n = 24). Results suggest that pupils’ understanding benefited from the introduction of particle ideas. Implications for the primary science curriculum are discussed.

The Effect of Three Cognitive Variables on Students’ Understanding of the Particulate Nature of Matter and its Changes of State

In this study, students’ understanding of the structure of matter and its changes of state such as melting, evaporation, boiling, and condensation was investigated in relation to three cognitive variables: logical thinking (LTh), field dependence/independence, and convergence/divergence dimension. The study took place in Greece with the participation of 329 ninth‐grade junior high school pupils (age 14–15). A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that all of the above‐mentioned cognitive variables were statistically significant predictors of the students’ achievement. Among the three predictors, LTh was found to be the most dominant. In addition, students’ understanding of the structure of matter, along with the cognitive variables, was shown to have an effect on their understanding of the changes of states and on their competence to interpret these physical changes. Path analyses were implemented to depict these effects. Moreover, a theoretical analysis is provided that associates LTh and cognitive styles with the nature of mental tasks involved when learning the material concerning the particulate nature of matter and its changes of state. Implications for science education are also discussed.

Primary Teachers’ Particle Ideas and Explanations of Physical Phenomena: Effect of an in‐service training course

This paper presents a study concerning Greek primary school teachers’ (n = 162) ideas about the particulate nature of matter and their explanations of physical phenomena. The study took place during an in‐service training course where the effectiveness of a specially designed intervention was tested. A key feature was an approach based on the concept of a substance and its states rather than “solids, liquids, and gases”. Pre‐intervention, the teachers held misconceptions similar to those of pupils. Also, there seemed to be some relationship between the teachers’ particle model ideas and their explanations of phenomena. Post‐intervention, the teachers’ descriptions and explanations were found to be significantly improved, with almost zero correlation between pre‐ and post‐intervention scores. Implications for science education are discussed.

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON FUNDAMENTAL CHEMICAL CONCEPTS

An attempt is made to examine primary school teachers’ views on the composition and classification of matter. The sample was constituted of 75 teachers who work in primary schools of Thrace, Greece. Teachers were asked: a) through an open ended questionnaire to define some of the major concepts of chemistry and to correspond these concepts to specific examples; b) to draw concept maps. The concepts under study were: matter, pure substance, compound, element, mixture, solution, molecule and atom. According to the findings: a) teachers seem to be familiar with those concepts which are extensively presented in the textbooks; b) they misunderstand some concepts since they are not familiar with the language of chemistry and their thinking is being influenced by the everyday use of some terms; c) some of the concepts under study can be perceived sensory; d) some concepts are perceived in a limited way. The limited knowledge of some concepts becomes evident from the fact that teachers often fail to draw relationships between concepts. In addition, the majority of the concepts under study cannot be defined easily by the teachers and can be described only through the use of examples, whereas concepts such as molecule and atom are described with difficulty even through the use of examples. Results are further discussed with respect to their implications. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2000, 1, 237-247]

Explaining melting and evaporation below boiling point. Can software help with particle ideas

This paper reports the findings of a study exploring the use of a software package to help pupils understand particulate explanations for melting and evaporation below boiling point. Two matched classes in a primary school in Greece (ages 11–12, n = 16 and 19) were involved in a short intervention of six one hour lessons. Covering the same phenomena and particle ideas, one class was taught using the software simulations, the other was not. Data were collected pre and post intervention through individual interviews (n= 2 × 12). In an approach which included the ideas of an ‘ability to hold’ and a distribution of energy, both groups made progress, but there were indications that the software had helped and more so for evaporation. However, in other cases, pupils could not escape from their initial views and created synthetic explanations with both macroscopic and microscopic characteristics.

Should we Teach Primary Pupils about Chemical Change

Thirty‐six pupils from three sixth‐grade classes (ages 11/12, n = 75) in Greece were interviewed pre‐ and post‐intervention in a piece of research on explanations of chemical phenomena. Software concerning chemical phenomena was incorporated in a teaching scheme, where the particle theory was used. After a 13 hour intervention, pupils’ explanations were categorized in five discrete categories. Only a few pupils could give satisfactory explanations, involving the integration of particle ideas at the level of atoms. The idea of chemical change seemed to be very difficult for the majority of pupils. Implications for the teaching of chemical phenomena at young ages are discussed.

Primary Teachers’ Understanding of Four Chemical Phenomena: Effect of an In-Service Training Course

One hundred and thirty Greek primary school teachers participated in a study, where the effectiveness of a specially designed intervention on chemical changes was tested. The study took place in the wider context of an in-service training course where the key feature was an innovative approach based on the concept of a substance and its transformations, physical and chemical. In the present paper the focus is on the chemical transformations of substances. Pre-intervention, teachers were found to have a relatively limited ability in explaining chemical changes, which depends on the characteristics of the particular change, and they held a number of misconceptions similar to those of pupils. Post-intervention, teachers’ descriptions and explanations were found to be significantly improved. Also, a relationship between teachers’ particle ideas and their explanations was found. Implications for science education are also discussed.

Primary teachers’ views and descriptions regarding some science activities

The views and the descriptions of 228 primary teachers on the use and the carrying out of some chemistry-related practical activities were studied. The research took place in the context of an in-service training course. As research tool, a questionnaire was used, where tasks dealing with three hands-on activities on chemistry topics, were included. According to the results, teachers had generally both the necessary knowledge to carry out such activities and the ability to describe procedures with the use of appropriate equipment and materials, to a satisfactory degree. However, their responses ranged from a more correct and complete level to a more generally descriptive and incomplete level. Results also suggest that, the gender and the use of science activities in school had an impact on their descriptions. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2007, 8 (1), 52-60]

Studying the consistency between and within the student mental models for atomic structure

Science education research has revealed a number of student mental models for atomic structure, among which, the one based on Bohrs model seems to be the most dominant. The aim of the current study is to investigate the coherence of these models when students apply them for the explanation of a variety of situations. For this purpose, a set of six tasks describing different everyday situations was given to 225 students of the 10th and 11th grades of secondary schools from Northern Greece. Quantitative analysis of the students’ responses using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) showed that there is no consistency between models across the tasks and that the context of the task affects the distribution of students’ responses across models. Qualitative analysis showed a variety of pieces of knowledge from different models that students combine when manipulating the tasks, which possibly causes a lack of consistency within each one of the models. The findings are discussed in terms of between and within model consistency, and the conclusions contribute to the debate concerning the coherent vs. fragmented knowledge hypotheses. The empirical evidence provided by the analysis clearly demonstrates that student mental models for atomic structure were not coherent when applied in different everyday situations. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Can Simple Particle Models Support Satisfying Explanations of Chemical Changes for Young Students

Since the meaning of an explanation of a chemical change is related to both an evaluation of the macroscopic changes and an interpretation at the microscopic level, any satisfying explanation requires the development of a particular model describing the structure of substances. A number of such models have been already developed by science education researchers in relation to corresponding educational levels, providing bases for explanations of chemical changes. In this chapter, an attempt is made to generally categorize such models in relation to educational levels, and thereafter some thoughts are presented concerning the general context, the possibilities and the usefulness of an introduction of such a particle model, and possible corresponding explanations to young students (ages 11/12). The idea to work for satisfying explanations of chemical changes even from the upper grades of primary school is supported. Some thoughts about conditions concerning the design and implementation of an appropriate curriculum are discussed.