This research tested the hypothesis that students' erroneous mental models about groundwater will change towards more valid concepts if they are taught on the basis of a mental model-building strategy that focuses on the clarification of students' misconceptions. To examine the hypothesis a quasi-experimental research design was chosen. The methodology adopted in the study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. To promote conceptual change, a teaching and learning approach aiming at mental model building developed by Taylor et al. (2003) was adopted in the experimental group, while the control group was taught in a traditional lecture style. The procedure was applied to investigate the mental models of 30 German undergraduate teacher education students in geography. More than 75% of the students' conceptions were either unclear or incorrect, based on simple, 'common sense' views of groundwater deposits. After the intervention the experimental group revealed significantly fewer misconceptions in their mental models about groundwater than did the control group. Teaching and learning by the mental model-building approach therefore seems to help undergraduate students to improve and refine their mental models of the abstract concept of groundwater occurrence in natures. The findings also suggest that the mental model-building approach could be a feasible strategy to induce conceptual change of other natural and cultural phenomena in geography and environmental sciences.
Springs are an important hydrological concept because springs form an interface between underground and surface sub-systems of the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, springs are important suppliers of drinking water but are at risk today due to numerous anthropogenic interferences. The general knowledge of springs and their formation is usually rudimental and characterised by personal conceptions, which view springs as the release of water from large subsurface cavities. These conceptions are based on intuitive knowledge, and are tenacious and difficult to change. Based on the model of educational reconstruction (MER), a constructivist approach for the design of teachingÀlearning sequences aimed at changing the students' intuitive conceptions, a learning environment about springs in mountain areas was developed. This paper describes the design process of the learning environment and the analysis of its efficacy with regard to persistent knowledge gains of 73 12-year-old students from lower secondary schools in Central Switzerland. Data gained from questionnaires, student drawings and texts were analyzed quantitatively in a repeated measure design using a pre-, post-and follow-up test. The gain in knowledge proved to be significant and remained stable on a high level during a period of two months.
Abstract. "Water knowledge" has now become a sociopolitical and future-orientated necessity. Everyday ideas or preconceptions of hydrology can have a deleterious effect one people's understanding of the scientific facts and their interrelations that are of relevance to sustainable water management. This explorative pilot study shows that preconceived notions about the origin of freshwater springs are common at the lower secondary school level. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to investigate the nature of everyday ideas about freshwater springs among 81 13-yr-old Swiss students, and (2) to develop an efficient instructional tool that promotes conceptual reconstruction in the learners' minds. To assess students' everyday ideas we conducted interviews, examined student work, and asked students to fill in a questionnaire. The results indicate that half of the students have some basic hydrological knowledge. However, several preconceived notions that can significantly impede the understanding of hydrological concepts have been found. A common preconception concerns the idea that solid rocks cannot be permeable and that large underground cavities constitute a necessary precondition for the formation of springs. While these ideas may well be true for karst springs they inhibit the understanding of the concept of other spring types due to their plausibility and intelligibility. We therefore chose the concept of the hillslope spring to construct an instructional tool that takes into account the findings of the psychology of learning aimed at promoting deep learning, thus facilitating a lasting conceptual reconstruction of the concept of springs.
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