Progression in children's understanding of the matter concept from elementary to high school

Liu, Xiufeng; Lesniak, Kathleen

doi:10.1002/tea.20114

Cited by 97 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Deficient ability to link micro-level processes with macro-level phenomena Students are generally unable to relate macroscopic observations to microscopic explanations and to recognize that similar micro processes underlie different macro-level processes in all live creatures (Alparslan et al 2003;Liu and Lesniak 2006). For example, they may not understand that the prerequisite of plant placement as first in webs is due to photosynthesis, or that chains' order is due to evolutionary processes and environmental conditions.…”

Section: Students' Difficulties and Misconceptions Regarding Feeding mentioning

confidence: 96%

System thinking and feeding relations: learning with a live ecosystem model

Eilam

2011

Instr Sci

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Considering well-documented difficulties in mastering ecology concepts and system thinking, the aim of the study was to examine 9th graders' understanding of the complex, multilevel, systemic construct of feeding relations, nested within a larger system of a live model. Fifty students interacted with the model and manipulated a variable within it in the course of this model ecosystem yearlong inquiry, in a laboratory/traditional learning environment. Students' written responses to 10 pretest-posttest probes underwent fine-grain analysis regarding 53 descriptors of the system of feeding relations. Overall, students exhibited initial system thinking, manifested in different levels of increased ability to identify: system components, processes, levels, and their interrelations; ecosystem patterns and control mechanisms; equilibrium shifts; and spatial and temporal aspects of feeding relations. However, many still exhibited a deficient understanding of the system studied, reflecting a deficient system thinking. Implications for systemic ecology teaching and learning are discussed.Keywords System thinking Á Live system model Á Long-term inquiry Á Ecology instruction and learning Á Junior high school Instruction of ecology poses great difficulties for students' learning (e.g., Hogan and Fisherkeller 1996;Reiner and Eilam 2001). These difficulties are usually attributed to ecology's interdisciplinary nature, to ecological theories' low level of generality, formalization, and verifiability (del Solar and Marone 2001), to the complex systemic nature of ecosystems (Grotzer and Bel Basca 2003;Hmelo-Silver et al. 2007), to the need to comprehend biological systems of increasing levels of complexity (Model et al. 2005), and to students' prior knowledge (Vosniadou 1994). For most biology students, learning biology mostly involves memorizing details about static components of phenomena while disregarding systemic changes in time (Wilensky and Reisman 2006). Learning about a system's components alone does not ensure students' development of system thinking.

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Section: Students' Difficulties and Misconceptions Regarding Feeding mentioning

confidence: 96%

System thinking and feeding relations: learning with a live ecosystem model

Eilam

2011

Instr Sci

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“…However, the authors do not provide details about the way in which students progress in understanding the individual aspects. In a subsequent study, Liu and Lesniak (2006) expanded their findings through an interview study. Faced with different substances, students were first asked to describe the substances and second to describe what happens when these substances are combined (cf.…”

Section: Studies In Science Education 183mentioning

confidence: 96%

Framing students’ progression in understanding matter: a review of previous research

Hadenfeldt

Liu

Neumann

2014

Studies in Science Education

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This manuscript presents a systematic review of the research on how students conceptualise matter. Understanding the structure and properties of matter is an essential part of science literacy. Over the last decades the number of studies on students' conceptions of matter published in peer-reviewed journals has increased significantly. These studies investigated how students conceptualise matter, to what extent students are able to explain everyday phenomena or how students develop an understanding of matter over time. In order to understand how students progress in their understanding of matter, what they understand easily and where they have difficulties, there is a need to identify common patterns across the available studies. The first substantial review of research on students' conception was provided in the 1990s with the aim to organise students' understanding of matter into four categories: students' conceptions about (1) chemical reactions, (2) physical states and their changes, (3) atoms, molecules and particle systems and (4) conservation. The aim of this review and analysis is to identify how subsequent research on students' conceptions of matter adds to this framework. The last comprehensive review of research on students' understanding of matter was carried out in the early 2000s. Thus, we analysed studies on students' conceptions of matter published within the last decade in five peer-reviewed journals of science education. Our findings suggest that research has moved from categorising students' conceptions to analysing students' progression in understanding matter. Based on our findings, we also identified typical pathways by which students may develop over time related to the four categories identified in previous reviews. As a conclusion, we present a model describing students' progression in understanding matter which may contribute to the development of a K-12 learning progression of matter.

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“…The misconception that ionic compounds form neutral ion pairs in water has been widely reported (19,45,(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53). Participants were given a score for their demonstration (covariate) and post-animations interviews.…”

Section: Recognizing the Absence Of Ion Pairs In Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Does the Order of Viewing Two Computer Animations of the Same Oxidation-Reduction Reaction Affect Students’ Particulate-Level Explanations?

Rosenthal

Sanger

2013

ACS Symposium Series

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This study compares how the order of viewing two different computer animations affects students' particulate-level explanations of an oxidation-reduction reaction. The animations differ primarily in the complexity of the visual images used. The explanations from participants viewing the more simplified animation followed by the more complex animation were compared to those from participants viewing the animations in the opposite order using analysis of covariance, with participants' explanations prior to viewing either animation as the covariate. This comparison showed that those viewing the more complex animation followed by the more simplified animation provided better explanations than those viewing them in the opposite order. These concepts included the absence of ion pairs, the electron transfer process, size changes in the atoms and ions, the source of the blue color in solution, the fact that water was not forcing this reaction to occur, and writing a balanced chemical equation for this reaction. Participants had less difficulty interpreting the more simplified animation, in part because it showed the charges of the atoms and ions, the number of electrons transferred from copper to silver, the 2:1 reacting ratio of silver and copper, the size changes occurring as silver and copper reacted, and the solution becoming darker

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Progression in children's understanding of the matter concept from elementary to high school

Cited by 97 publications

References 41 publications

System thinking and feeding relations: learning with a live ecosystem model

System thinking and feeding relations: learning with a live ecosystem model

Framing students’ progression in understanding matter: a review of previous research

How Does the Order of Viewing Two Computer Animations of the Same Oxidation-Reduction Reaction Affect Students’ Particulate-Level Explanations?

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