What Students' Diagrams Reveal about Their Sense-Making of Plate Tectonics in Lower Secondary Science

Autor/inn/en	McLure, Felicity; Won, Mihye; Treagust, David F.
Titel	What Students' Diagrams Reveal about Their Sense-Making of Plate Tectonics in Lower Secondary Science
Quelle	In: International Journal of Science Education, 43 (2021) 16, S.2684-2705 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (McLure, Felicity) ORCID (Won, Mihye) ORCID (Treagust, David F.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0950-0693
DOI	10.1080/09500693.2021.1983922
Schlagwörter	Visual Aids; Freehand Drawing; Concept Formation; Scientific Concepts; Plate Tectonics; Geology; Physics; Holistic Approach; Prior Learning; Misconceptions; Difficulty Level; Secondary School Students; Grade 8; Early Adolescents; Public Schools; Foreign Countries; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Anschauungsmaterial; Drawing; Zeichnen; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Plattentektonik; Historische Geologie; Physik; Holistischer Ansatz; Vorkenntnisse; Missverständnis; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Sekundarschüler; School year 08; 8. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 08; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Ausland; Australien
Abstract	Understanding plate tectonics is pivotal to development of an integrated understanding of Geoscience topics. However, geology is frequently introduced to students in lower secondary school by describing separate processes, such as sedimentary rock formation, rather than investigating the overall driving forces for change. This study investigated what Grade 8 students (N = 37) drew to explain plate tectonics in relation to convection currents and how they integrated their prior learning into a holistic understanding through the drawing process. Students' explanatory diagrams revealed challenges to students' sense-making of this dynamic process which have not previously been documented, such as integrating understanding of temperature, density and pressure into an explanation for bulk movement of material in convection currents; and interactions between convection currents in the mantle and the tectonic plates. Understanding students' alternative conceptions at these fundamental levels provides opportunities for teachers to address these conceptions earlier in the teaching cycle. The results suggest that introduction to geology through student-generated visual representations may support students to construct better scientific explanations of the dynamic, complex processes of plate tectonics. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01