HR: 14:25h
AN: ED22E-04 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Conceptions About Standards-Based Lunar Concepts
AU: * Trundle, K C
EM: trundle.1@osu.edu
AF: The Ohio State University, 1945 N. High Street 333 Arps Hall, Columbus, OH 43210 United States
AB: This paper summarizes results from three research studies, which focused on conceptions of lunar concepts. Study 1 focused on the conceptual understandings held by 78 preservice elementary teachers about the cause of moon phases, before and after instruction. Participants in the physics groups received instruction on moon phases in an inquiry-based physics course; participants in the methods group received no instruction on moon phases. The instructive effect of two different types of preinstruction interviews also was compared. Results indicated that without the instruction, most preservice teachers were likely to hold alternative conceptions on the cause of moon phases. Participants who had the instruction were much more likely to hold a scientific understanding after instruction. The instruction appeared to be more effective in promoting a scientific understanding of the cause of moon phases than instruction previously reported in the literature. It also appears that using a three-dimensional model or making two dimensional drawings during the preinstruction interviews does not have instructive value. Study 2 examined preservice teachers' conceptions of moon phases over an extended period after instruction. This research, a continuation of work in Study 1, included longitudinal data from 12 participants who had received instruction on moon phases in an inquiry-based physics course. Participants who had been interviewed before instruction and three weeks after instruction were given delayed postinterviews six or thirteen months after instruction. Results indicated a majority continued to hold a scientific understanding months after instruction. However, some participants reverted to alternative conceptions they had shown during the preinterview. Study 3 described the conceptual understandings held by 52 preservice elementary teachers about standards-based lunar concepts for grades K-4, including the observable shapes of the moon and the monthly pattern of observable changes. Results indicated that without instruction, most preservice teachers did not have a scientific understanding of observable moon shapes and patterns of monthly changes in the shapes. Participants who completed the instruction were more likely to hold a scientific understanding. Thus, the instruction appeared to be effective in promoting a scientific understanding of moon shapes and patterns of change in the shapes
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting