This study investigates prospective elementary and secondary school mathematics teachers' ways of reasoning about differentiability at a point and corner points while working on a mathematical modelling activity. Adopting a multiple-case study design, the participants of the study were 68 prospective elementary school mathematics teachers enrolled…

To improve the teaching and learning materials for a curriculum it is important to incorporate the findings from educational research. In light of this, we present creative exercises and experiments to elicit, confront and resolve misconceptions in geometrical optics. Since ray diagrams can be both the cause and the solution for many…

Inequalities are considered among the most useful tools of investigation in pure and applied mathematics; yet their didactical aspects have not received much attention in mathematics education research until recently. An important aspect of teaching problem solving at the secondary level deals with the notion of equivalence of algebraic…

Physics is perceived by many students to be a difficult subject, and misconceptions about it are quite common not only among school students but also among undergraduates and pre-service postgraduate science teachers. In teaching the topic of gas pressure to primary student teachers studying in the Bachelor of Education programme at my institute,…

Compares misconceptions associated with electric circuits between high school students in the People's Republic of China and in the United States. In general, findings indicate that the Chinese students did better on the problems than did the American students. Discusses the importance of physics in the Chinese curriculum. (JRH)

Identifies the misunderstandings and problem-solving strategies of secondary students when solving stoichiometry problems. (Author/CCM)

A discussion of what E=mc2 means and other issues associated with the equation are presented. The differences between matter, mass, and energy, a derivation of the equation, the history of the word mass and examples of how it is used, misconceptions surrounding the equation, and a discussion of uranium fission are included. (KR)

Describes an investigation that explores students' understanding of the translation, rotation, and deformation of an object. Findings illustrate that students have difficulty appreciating that these different phenomena can occur simultaneously. Discusses some implications for teaching. (DDR)

Analyzes students' attempts to answer examination questions involving stoichiometry and chemical equilibrium and reports that the majority of the students do not fully understand either concept. Concludes that the main difficulty with these topics is that they are highly abstract and first taught to students before they have reached the stage of…

Reports on the effects of a problem-solving-based instructional model on earth science students' (n=172) achievement and alternative frameworks. Results revealed that the problem-solving-based instructional model significantly improved the achievement of students, especially at the application level. Students in the treatment group experienced…

Discusses a well-known optical refraction problem where the depth of an object in a liquid is determined. Proposes that many texts incorrectly solve the problem. Provides theory, equations, and diagrams. (MVL)

Presents hands-on activities to teach about the causes and consequences of strokes. (YDS)

Investigation of (n=101) 17- to 18-year-old students' responses to a task relating to Boyle's Law for gases found that 34% to 38% of students did not understand the concepts of volume and mass, respectively, of a gas under the given circumstances. (Author/MKR)

Investigates reasoning strategies students use in solving stoichiometric problems and explores the relation between these strategies and alternative conceptions, prior knowledge, and cognitive variables. Results show how stoichiometric relations produce conflicting situations for students leading to conceptual misunderstanding of certain concepts.…

Frictional force is a source of misconceptions among students, as teachers know from daily experience. This is confirmed by many studies carried out by investigators from all over the world. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), we have found some of these misconceptions among physics school teachers and senior students of physics education courses…