PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PREDICTIONS ON STUDENT LEARNING DIFFICULTIES IN THE DOMAIN OF MECHANICS
Title | PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PREDICTIONS ON STUDENT LEARNING DIFFICULTIES IN THE DOMAIN OF MECHANICS |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2018 |
Authors | Zhou, S-N, Xiao, H |
Journal | Journal of Baltic Science Education |
Volume | 17 |
Issue | 4 |
Start Page | 649-661 |
Pagination | Continuous |
Date Published | August/2018 |
Type of Article | Original article |
ISSN | 1648-3898 |
Other Numbers | E-ISSN 2538-7138 |
Keywords | mechanics domain, pre-service science teachers’ predictions, student learning difficulties, students` knowledge |
Abstract | The ability to predict students’ ideas or performances is commonly recognized as an indicator to measure teachers’ knowledge of student learning difficulties. This research focuses on identifying pre-service science teachers’ knowledge of student learning difficulties on Mechanics, as well as comparing pre-service science teachers’ predictions to student reasoning on the causes of their learning difficulties. The populations consist of 479 pre-service science teachers and 1,020 students taking physics as a separate science course. Two versions of the questionnaires are designed, with teacher- and student- oriented questions separately. From the results, inconsistencies are observed between two groups of populations. Pre-service science teachers either over- or under-predict student learning difficulties in some special domains. The results show that the physics content knowledge factor attracts great attention from both students and pre-service science teachers as the cause of student learning difficulties. The research results are important for pre-service science teachers to realize the gap between their own perspectives and students’ actual learning difficulties. |
URL | http://oaji.net/articles/2017/987-1533709007.pdf |
DOI | 10.33225/jbse/18.17.649 |
Refereed Designation | Refereed |
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