En longitudinell studie av 10-12-åringars förståelse av materiens förändringar
Abstract
The main aim of this study was to study young people’s ability to use science knowledge
when talking about and explaining everyday phenomena involving transformations of matter.
Pupils’ individual knowledge was studied both through their spontaneous explanations and
through their explanations with appropriate help in discussions with me or with other pupils.
The framework for learning in this study involved both pupils’ individual learning and their
learning in a social context. In the project, pupils discussed everyday phenomena with peers
and with me. The role of the discourse was stressed in the interviews as well as pupils’ use of
parallel models of explanations.
Data were gathered through four interviews with each one of 40 pupils from five classes during
a longitudinal study over two years. The pupils were about 10 years old at the first interview.
During the study three instructional units were carried out in the five classes. In the first
instructional unit a basic particle model was introduced, to be used when discussing experimental
situations during the instructional units. The development of the basic particle model
was one of the themes during the instructional units. Other recurrent themes were states of
matter, gases and chemical reactions. I decided not to introduce the concept of chemical reaction
until the last instructional unit. Pupils’ statements in the interviews were categorised from
these themes.
The categorizations emanated from presented research on pupils’ conceptions of science but
also from the statements of the actual group of pupils. The correctness of the science concepts
used was also taken into account in the categorizations. Sometimes I altered a method used
before and sometimes I developed a categorization for a special purpose in my study.
An example of the category systems is the combined classification of pupils’ conceptions of
the particle nature of matter that contains three perspectives:
A/ the quality of pupils’ particle model as revealed during the interview
B/ the nature of pupils’ use of the concept of molecule during the interview
C/ the number of situations in the interview where pupils use the concept of molecule.
The pupils did not replace their old models; they put for example a new particle model beside
their old everyday model. Then they chose which model to use when they met new situations.
Most of the pupils were able to use knowledge of science when talking about known everyday
phenomena involving transformations of matter. Almost all of the pupils in the group developed
their own thinking models during the project. Pupils’ growing ability to describe features
of chemical reactions and the development of their own particle model could help them
to understand for example the nature of chemical reactions.
University
University of Gothenburg. Faculty of Education
Date of defence
2001-10-26
Publisher
Göteborg : Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis
Date
2001Author
Eskilsson, Olle
Publication type
Doctoral thesis
ISBN
91-7346-412-0
ISSN
0436-1121
Series/Report no.
Göteborg studies in educational sciences
167
Language
swe