Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Matter--Constitution--Study and teaching (Elementary); Elementary school teachers--Training of; Science--Study and teaching (Elementary);
Abstract
This study was descriptive in nature and investigated preservice elementary teachers' understanding of the particulate nature of matter. Twenty-two sophomore elementary education majors were interviewed using the interview-about-events technique. Students were asked to observe and offer explanations for some common physical and chemical changes such as melting, evaporating, condensing, dissolving, and burning. Next, the students' model of matter was probed and they were asked to provide a description of each event using their conceptual model. The results indicated that the majority of students (82%) accepted that matter is made of particles. However, only 56% of these students believed that particles in the solid state would be in constant motion and a maximum of 22% of these students stated that there would be empty space between the particles. The latter suggests that the students' model of matter is not truly particulate. The number of students giving acceptable molecular responses varied with the event, but in all cases these students were in the minority. The majority developed alternate models. Students suggested that molecules could change in size, melt, get lighter, and get heavier. A group of students (27%) believed that water split into hydrogen and oxygen on boiling, and recombined on condensing. None of the students in this study accepted that the bubbles in boiling water are made of water in the gaseous state. The condensation of water on the outside of a jar containing ice proved to be a difficult event to describe. Eighteen percent suggested that the water had come. through the glass. A number of students considered the evaporation of alcohol to be a different process from the evaporation of water. The majority of students gave molecular descriptions for sugar dissolving. The most common response was that sugar and water molecules had bonded in some way. Three students suggested that the sugar molecules had undergone a chemical reaction. All students had some difficulty describing what happens to the wax that disappears as a candle burns. Many students initially compared it to water evaporating. A surprising 23% of students argued that the wax had only melted and none of it had disappeared.
Year of Submission
1990
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Physics
First Advisor
Robert T. Ward
Second Advisor
Erwin Richter
Third Advisor
Gregory P. Stefanich
Date Original
1990
Object Description
1 PDF file (79 leaves)
Copyright
©1990 Pushpa Pandey
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Pandey, Pushpa, "Undergraduate Elementary Education Students’ Understanding of the Particulate Nature of Matter" (1990). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2150.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2150
Comments
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