Countering fundamental misconceptions about light: An analysis of specific teaching strategies with year 8 students

A comparative study of prevalent student understanding about light (Fetherstonhaugh et. al. 1987) indicated how secondary and tertiary students from Western Australia, France, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States held similar misconceptions in terms of how light travels and interacts with mirrors and lenses and how we are able to see objects. A secondary aim, following on from this comparative study, was to use the central misconceptions about light in the design and implementation of specific teaching strategies which might better address some of those misconceptions held by students. This paper describes part of an on-going study that monitors some misconceptions about light as found in one class of year 8 students at a Western Australian secondary school. Additionally this paper discusses the learning of a small group of students within that class as it interacted with the teaching program dealing with light

Student misconceptions about light: A comparative study of prevalent views found in Western Australia, France New Zealand, Sweden and the United States

Science educators have continued to show interest in the identification and documentation of students' alternative knowledge frameworks as they relate to school science and learning outeomes. This interest has been highlighted in recent publications of scienee education journals sueh as the 1985 and 1986 volumes of Researeh in Seienee Education and conference proceedings such as Arehenhold et al. (1980), Helm and Novak (1983), Jung, Pfund and v. Rhoneck (1981). Although there is ample scope and need for researchers to expose student understanding in many unprobed areas, seienee educators are already shifting their efforts toward the utilisation of established data in terms of instructional design. The investigation reported here elicited views about the nature and propagation of light as identified by 13-16 year old students at one Western Australian secondary school. Initially, this paper considers the existing literature on children and adolescent understanding of light as reported from France, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States. Seeondly, these doeumented understandings are compared with those eneountered in Western Australia. The final aim of this study, which is not reported here, is to utilise this overseas and local information to plan instruction which takes into account student misconceptions to bring about conceptual change