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Consistency of students' explanations about combustion
Author(s) -
Watson J. Rod,
Prieto Teresa,
Dillon Justin S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-237x(199707)81:4<425::aid-sce4>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - consistency (knowledge bases) , affect (linguistics) , psychology , mathematics education , science education , philosophy of science , conceptual change , range (aeronautics) , concept learning , epistemology , social psychology , mathematics , engineering , philosophy , geometry , communication , aerospace engineering
This article reports some findings of a study of 14–15‐year‐oldstudents' ideas about combustion. Patterns of students' explanationacross a range of questions are described and analyzed to gain insight intoboth the degree of consistency of their explanations and how this may affectthe processes of conceptual change in students. Data were collected bya questionnaire survey using mainly open questions. Responses were analyzedusing systemic networks. Categories from the networks were combinedto produce patterns of explanations that could be considered as theories.The general characteristics of these theories, the consistency withwhich they were used, and implications for teaching and learning are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 81: 425‐444, 1997.