This chapter illustrates the main warning signals that could help us to detect the flaws of an explanation in physics: internal contradiction (two examples); direct contradiction of a law of physics (one example); indirect contradiction of a law of physics (one example); logical incompleteness of an explanation (three examples); overgeneralization…

This dissertation examines the thesis that implicit learning plays a role in learning about scientific phenomena, and subsequently, in conceptual change. Decades of research in learning science demonstrate that a primary challenge of science education is overcoming prior, naive knowledge of natural phenomena in order to gain scientific…

It is well-known that misconceptions exist on a range of topics. The origin of these misconceptions can be very different, but some of them can be understood by students struggling with the application of physics concepts in real life situations or in the context of another school subject, e.g. geography. In this paper, different strategies to…

This study examines the existing knowledge that pre-service elementary teachers (PSETs) have regarding heat energy, heat transfer and insulation. The PSETs' knowledge of heat energy was initially assessed by using an activity: determining which container would be best to keep hot water warm for the longest period of time. Results showed that PSETs…

Biological evolution still lacks representation in school, especially below high school level. In order to find new implications that could help achieve significant improvement in teaching evolution, twelve expert interviews with both renowned researchers and experienced science teachers were conducted. Results of the comparison between the…

Do we perceive correctly whether a 2-D object is balanced or unbalanced? What would be the cause of biased equilibrium judgments? In two psychometric studies, we varied independently the characteristics of the objects and the equilibrium states. First, we observed that observers were excessively sensitive to the eccentricity of the object top.…

Pupils' expectation-related errors oppose the development of an appropriate scientific attitude towards empirical evidence and the learning of accepted science content, representing a hitherto neglected area of research in science education. In spite of these apparent drawbacks, a pedagogy is described that "encourages" pupils to allow their…

Plant tropisms--their directional movement in response to stimuli--are a fundamental concept in plant science and excite students because they are the observable signs of life in plants. Unfortunately, the precollege teaching literature is full of tropism misconceptions. An inexpensive clock clinostat is invaluable for student gravitropism and…