Primary students’ conceptions of the Earth : Re-examining a fundamental research hypothesis on mental models
Part of : Προσχολική & σχολική εκπαίδευση ; Vol.6, No.1, 2018, pages 23-34
Issue:
Pages:
23-34
Author:
Abstract:
Research on pupils’ conceptions of the earth has proposed certain mental models within the theoretical perspective known as coherent or theory-like knowledge. Alternatively, the fragmented knowledge hypothesis refutes the existence of such models and proposes a different perspective. Although the relevant discussion has not been converged in to a definite answer, recently, the debate between the two theories has been brought up into consideration by the advances in methodology and statistical analysis. In this paper pupils’ conceptions of the earth were analyzed by latent class analyses. Children’s ideas (N=184, grades 1st to 3rd), were investigated using a closed-ended questionnaire, which includes illustrations corresponding to certain mental models. The results showed that pupils’ conceptions of the earth are not characterized by consistency and thus they do not support the existence of coherent mental models. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Subject:
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
Students’ conceptions, earth, coherent models, fragmented knowledge
References (1):
- Brewer, W., Hendrich, D., & Vosniadou, S. (1987, January). A cross-cultural study of children’s development of cosmological bodies: Samoan and American data. Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Thinking. Honolulu, HIClogg, C. C. (1995). Latent class models. In G. Arminger, C. C. Clogg, & M. E. Sobel (Eds.), Handbook of statistical modeling for the social and behavioral sciences (pp. 311–359). New York: Plenum.Dayton, C.M. (1998). Latent class scaling analysis. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage.Diakidoy, I. A., Vosniadou, S., & Hawks, J. D. (1997). Conceptual change in astronomy: Models of the earth and of the day/night cycle in American-Indian children. European Journal of Psychology Education, 12, 159–184.diSessa, A. A. (1988). Knowledge in pieces. In G. Forman & P. B. Pufall (Eds.), Constructivism in the computer age (pp. 49–70). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.diSessa, A. A., Gillespie, N. M., & Esterly, J. B. (2004). Coherence versus fragmentation in the development of the concept of force. Cognitive Science, 28, 843–900.Harrison, A., G., Grayson, D., J., & Treagust, D., F. (1999). Investigating a grade 11 student's evolving conceptions of heat and temperature. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(1), 55-87.Hayes, B., Goodhew, A., Heit, E., & Gillan, J. (2003). The role of diverse instruction in conceptual change. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 86, 253–276Ioannides, C., & Vosniadou, S. (2002). The changing meanings of force. Cognitive Science Quarterly, 2, 5–62.Jansen, B. R. J., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (1997). Statistical test of the rule assessment methodology by latent class analysis. Developmental Review, 17, 321–357.Johnson, P. M. (1998). Children’s understanding of changes of state involving the gas state, Part 1. Boiling water and the particle theory. International Journal of Science Education, 20, 567–583.Kirbulut, Z. D., & Beeth, M. E. (2013). Consistency of Students' ideas across Evaporation, Condensation, and Bioling. Research in Scinece Education, 43, 209-3232.0.Nobes, G., & Panagiotaki, G. (2007). Adults’ representations of the earth: Implications for children’s acquisition of scientific concepts. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 645–665.Panagiotaki, G., Nobes, G., & Banerjee, R. (2006). Children’s representations of the earth: A methodological comparison. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 353–372.Nobes, G., Martin, A. E., & Panagiotaki, G. (2005). The development of scientific knowledge of the earth. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 23, 47–64.Nobes, G., Moore, D. G., Martin, A. E., Clifford, B. R., Butterworth, G., Panagiotaki, G., & Siegal, M. (2003). Children’s understanding of the earth in a multicultural community. Developmental Science, 6, 74–87.Samarapungavan, A., Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W. (1996). Mental models of the earth, sun, and moon: Indian children’s cosmologies. Cognitive Development, 11, 491–521.Siegal, M., Butterworth, G., & Newcombe, P. (2004). Culture and children’s cosmology. Developmental Science, 7, 308–324.Siegal, M., Waters, L., & Dinwiddy, L. (1988). Misleading children: Causal attributions for inconsistency under repeated questioning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 45, 438–456.Siegler, R. S. (1976). Three aspects of cognitive development. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 481–520.Siegler, R. S. (1981). Developmental sequences within and between concepts. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 46 (2, Serial No. 189).Straatemeier, M., van der Maas, H.L.J., & Jansen, B.R.J. (2008). Children’s knowledge of the earth: A new methodological and statistical approach. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 100, 276–296.Stamovlasis, D., Papageorgiou, G. & Tsitsipis, G. (2013). The coherent versus fragmented knowledge hypotheses for the structure of matter: An investigation with a robust statistical methodology. Chemistry Education, Research and Practice, 14, 485-495.Turcotte, S. (2012). Computer-Supported Collaborative Inquiry on Buoyancy: A Discourse Analysis Supporting the ‘‘Pieces’’ Position Conceptual Change. Journal of Sciences Education and Technology, 21, 808-825.Vermunt, J.K., & Magidson, J. (2002). Latent class cluster analysis. J.A. Hagenaars and A.L.Vosniadou, S. (1994). Universal and culture-specific properties of children’s mental models of the earth. In L. Hirschfeld, & S. Gelman (Eds.), Mapping the mind: Domain specificity in cognition and culture (pp. 412–430). New York: Cambridge University Press.Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W. F. (1992). Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 535–585.
