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An analysis of teachers’ and their students’ views of the concept “Gravity'”
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Metadata
Title
An analysis of teachers' and their students' views of the concept "Gravity'"
Abstract
Teachers have been reported to have misconceptions in science (see Ameh and Gunstone, 1985, 1986) but there is no direct report which considers whether teachers w misconceptions are similar to those of the students they teach. Research in this area has very largely been focused on students. This is rather unfortunate because the teacher plays the crucial role in any educational enterprise. Teachers t understanding of science should be a paramount interest to researchers. Hewson (1981) has argued that while the research focus has been on students, teachers might have misconceptions which will require changing. According to Northfield (1986), current views of science education see the science teacher (not curriculum materials) as the primary focus for curriculum development. Efforts have been made to change students' views towards more scientific conceptions (e.g. Champagne et al., 1983; Osborne and Wittrock, 1983; Gunstone and Northfield, 1986). In most of these attempts the science teacher is not considered. Tisher (1986) has argued that educating primary and secondary school teacher is a major enterprise, yet teachers appear to receive only a small amount of attention from researchers. In this paper, we analyse the differences and similarities between teachers I responses and their students' responses to questions probing understanding of "Gravity". The aim is to establish whether or not students' responses reflect the beliefs of their teachers, and to consider whether teachers' concepts are superior to students' concepts.
Date
01/01/1987
Citation
Ameh, C. (1987). An analysis of teachers’ and their students’ views of the concept ``Gravity’’. Research in Science Education, 17, 212–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02357189
Type of Publication
Author(s)
Ameh, Catherine
Content
Construct
Conceptions/Conceptual Change | Content Knowledge | Reasoning
Methodology
Research Setting
Target Group
Teachers > In-Service | Students > Middle School Students | Students > Secondary School Students
Institution(s)
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Journal Name
Research in Science Education
Peer-Reviewed Status
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Volume
17
ISSN
1573-1898
Resource Type
Nation(s) of Study
Nigeria
Language
English