Science teaching and learning require knowledge about how learning takes place (cognition) and how learners interact with their surroundings (affective and sociocultural factors). The study reported on focussed on learning for understanding of Newton's second law of motion from a cognitive perspective that takes social factors into account. A…

Children form their own ideas, which become their beliefs based on their experiences. The misconceptions prevailing within children are stated with the measures to guide them to examine their ideas.

Reports on a study in which clinical interviews were conducted with three elementary school children to determine the extent to which they held naive misconceptions about important biological topics, and to determine agewise trends in the development of biological knowledge. (TW)

Students use their preschool experiences to form personal theories about the world and rarely correct misconceptions even when new information is presented. This article describes an elementary science teacher's efforts to help fifth and sixth graders revise personal electricity theories, based on experimentation. There is no simple way to…

Most students enter their first formal science courses with intelligently conceived and sophisticated concepts of science. Some of these may be compatible with the principles of modern science, but others may be incorrect, inadequate, outdated, or otherwise unacceptable. Conceptual frameworks based on intuitive misperceptions, naive inferences,…

The purpose of this study was to determine which magnet concepts were found in various science textbook series, how the concepts were presented, and to identify potential misconceptions related to magnets. Magnet concepts presented as prose, illustration, and/or laboratory activities are identified and analyzed. (KR)

Describes an activity using a large balloon to help children understand that, even though the horizon appears to be flat, the Earth is, indeed, round. Uses a toy ship to reinforce evidence from the first part of the activity. Stresses the importance of confronting naive theories at an early age. (CW)

Cites the misconceptions that students beginning the study of electric circuits often have about electricity. Explains the use of capacitors with circuits of batteries and light bulbs to introduce electrostatic forces and help to alleviate the problem of misconceptions. (RT)

Describes a program for sixth grade students developed by the Methacton School District (Norristown, PA) Planetarium staff. Provides brief outlines of eight teaching units designed to provide students with hands-on activities in astronomy. Includes a reproducible worksheet for an activity which involves students in creating and decoding…

Describes the "Physics by Inquiry" course that is designed to address student misconceptions. Explains how the course was taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for teachers and how it was taught at Ohio State University for elementary-education majors. Concludes the course is exportable to many different environments…

Discusses three current approaches to curriculum for science education which seem to be converging on a similar model for instruction: technology and society; misconceptions in science; and hands on science. The technologies required for the implementation of this teaching model are identified, and appropriate science education resources are…

Describes a cooperative program between Indiana University and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis that was designed to expose preservice elementary teacher trainees to children who were interacting with the museum's displays. Discusses some of the misconceptions that the children held about certain scientific concepts and the entertainment…

Discusses how to address the concept of chemical equilibrium through the use of thermodynamic activities. Describes the advantages of setting up an equilibrium constant in terms of activities and demonstrates how to approximate those activities by practical measures such as partial pressures, mole fractions, and molar concentrations. (TW)

While there is general agreement that student attitudes toward science education are poor, there is little agreement in defining, measuring, or improving attitudes. The nature of how students relate to science rather than what they know about science is becoming an area of increased focus in science education research. This case study specifically…

This document contains a set of instructional materials about photosynthesis that were used in a research study of middle school science teaching during 1985-86. The Middle School Science Project investigated ways to help middle school science teachers use teaching strategies that were identified in earlier studies as particularly effective in…