Exploring the parallelism between change in students' conceptions and historical change in the concept of inertia

Abstract

This study investigates students' conceptions of inertia and compares these conceptions with historical change in the concept. A total of 736 students from four different age groups (i.e., age 11,13,15 and 17) participated in the survey. Questions in the questionnaire represent problems related to the concept of inertia which have been argued by past scientists such as Aristotle, Buridan, Galileo, and Newton. The questionnaire contained three questions, each concerned with one of the following applications of inertia: natural motion, the motion of a flying spear, and the falling motion of a stone on a moving ship. The results of the survey showed that there were considerable similarities as well as dissimilarities between students' conceptions and the views of past scientists. It is suggested that this kind of comparison studies would give useful background information on change in students' conceptions.

Relating students' reasoning to the history of science: The case of chemical equilibrium

“…For instance, Song, Cho and Chung (1997) analysed students' conceptions of inertia in relation to the historical development of this concept, finding both considerable similarities as well as differences between students' conceptions and those of scientists from the past. Moreover, the identification of similar conceptions does not imply that individual processes of knowledge construction recapitulate the progress made in the scientific community.…”

“…2. Certain conceptions of scientists from the past may be discussed with students, to make them discover their own conceptual weaknesses, and, eventually, to stimulate them to change their conceptions (Wandersee, 1986;Song et al, 1997).…”

Διερεύνηση Των Εναλλακτικών Ιδεών Για Έννοιες Της Μηχανικής Σε Εφήβους Που Βρίσκονται Στο Φάσμα Του Αυτισμού Υψηλής Λειτουργικότητας

“…Επίσης, οι μαθητές αυτοί συχνά υιοθετούν την άποψη του φιλοσόφου Buridan ότι παθητικά μεταφερόμενα αντικείμενα ακολουθούν ευθύγραμμη κατακόρυφη τροχιά όταν αφήνονται ελεύθερα να κινηθούν προς τα κάτω (Driver et al, 1994). Τα παραπάνω αποτυπώνονται καθαρά σε μία μεγάλη έρευνα του Song et al (1997) (Prescott, 2004). Επίσης, σε αντίστοιχη έρευνα για την κίνηση βλημάτων ζητήθηκε από μαθητές να σχεδιάσουν την πορεία που θα ακολουθήσουν μία αργά και μία γρήγορα κυλιόμενη μπάλα καθώς προσεγγίζουν την άκρη ενός τραπεζιού.…”