Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Light;
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to describe some ideas that future elementary school teachers have about light and shadows. Twenty-five freshmen and sophomores in elementary education were interviewed using the Interview-About-Instances technique developed by Osborne and Gilbert. Students were asked to explain specific instances of sources and non-sources of light, the distance light travels, and the role of light in vision. Students defined the word "shadow" and predicted where shadows could be in particular situations. The results of this study indicate that many students lack factual information or have misconceptions concerning light propagation. Fifty-six percent of the students in this study explained that the moon makes light. Students also lack an understanding about the way a television works. Students hold inconsistent views about light propagation. They believe that light from the sun travels incredible distances and that light from a candle barely travels a yard. Their ideas about the distance light travels may be related to the area that a light source illuminates. Students judged that the light from a candle travelled a short distance during the day, but farther at night. Some students described light from an object, during the day, mixing with or being stopped by the existence of other light in the room. It seems that students' understanding of vision is related to their ideas about the distance light travels. Almost half of the students said that light from an object must enter a person's eye in order to see the object. Even when students believed that it would be possible to see a light source from a long distance, they did not necessarily believe that the light was travelling that entire distance. These students emphasized that an object must be in an illuminated area in order to be seen. One third of the students lacked a cause-effect understanding of shadow formation. Six students described shadows as reflections or projections. Others described light moving in a curved path. Without both the idea of light moving in a straight path and of shadow formation from the blocking of light, students had great difficulty predicting and explaining shadows.
Year of Submission
1990
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Physics
First Advisor
Robert Ward
Second Advisor
Roy Unruh
Third Advisor
Greg Stefanich
Date Original
1990
Object Description
1 PDF file (67 leaves)
Copyright
©1990 Deborah Lynn Orr
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Orr, Deborah Lynn, "Undergraduate Elementary Education Students’ Concepts of Light" (1990). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2151.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2151
Comments
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