Identifying and correcting misconceptions about the solar system through a constructivist teaching approach

The purpose of this study was to help students identify and correct, through the constructivist approach, naive conceptions and misconceptions that interfere or prevent learning from taking place. The question was, can naive conceptions and misconceptions be identified and corrected with the constructivist approach to education. Five classes of 114 fifth graders participated in this study. Their naive conceptions and misconceptions were identified through individual and group responses. After the misconceptions were identified, correcting them through the constructivist approach began. Students were given a scenario to perform, and through project based activities and a variety of different resources, the students were able to correct their misconceptions and construct their knowledge about the solar system. Overall, the results from the data collected indicated the constructivist approach to education is effective in identifying and correcting naive conceptions and misconceptions.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Grantor

Texas Woman's University

Year dc:date.issued

1996

Author dc:creator

• Acker, Sharron F.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Caswell, Ruth M.

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Wendel, Carlton

• Science education
• Elementary education

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11274/10269

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:twu-ir.tdl.org:11274/10269