Examining Science Tools as Mediators of Students' Learning about Circuits.

Autor: Carter, Glenda, Westbrook, Susan L., Thompkins, Cheryl D.
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Research in Science Teaching; Jan1999, Vol. 36 Issue 1, p89-105, 17p
Abstrakt: The article examines students' use of science tools in a ninth-grade physical science classroom. The study took place in the context of a unit on electric circuits. Analyses of the data through a framework of social cognition led the researchers to make four assertions concerning students' tools usage: (a) Students who were able to verbally relate the tools to everyday experiences perceived themselves--and were often perceived by their group--as tool experts. (b) Physically using the tools was a necessary prerequisite for using the tools as mediators of learning. (c) Boys initially dominated the use of tools. Girls who demanded use of the tools indicated an awareness of the importance of tool usage for mediating understanding. (d) If the tools were outside their zone of proximal development, students could not use the tools to develop an understanding of circuits. Implications of the findings suggest that students can be taught to collect data using the tools provided, but lack of familiarity with the tools renders those data meaningless. Conceptual progress may be hindered by the students' need first to understand the tools in terms of everyday applications.
Databáze: Complementary Index