21St, November 29, 1996, Perth, Western Australia, Australia)
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 407 248 SE 060 145 AUTHOR Hackling, Mark W., Ed. TITLE Proceedings of the Annual Western Australian Science Education Association Conference (21st, November 29, 1996, Perth, Western Australia, Australia). INSTITUTION Western Australia Science Education Association. REPORT NO ISSN-1323-6245 PUB DATE Nov 96 NOTE 199p. PUB TYPE Collected Works Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE. MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Chemistry; Classroom Environment; *Computer Uses in Education; Concept Formation; *Constructivism (Learning); Educational Strategies; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; General Science; Higher Education; Multimedia Materials; Physics; *Science Curriculum; *Science Instruction; Sex Differences; Technology IDENTIFIERS Australia ABSTRACT This proceedings is comprised of the edited papers presented at the 21st meeting of the Western Australian Science Education Association (WASEA). The 26 papers included here relate to many different topics such as proportional reasoning, the state of primary science in Western Australia, faculty culture, concept formation in elementary science, use of technology, employing a constructivist philosophy in curriculum and instruction, understanding the atomic model, use of multimedia materials, understanding chemical equations, differentiating heat and temperature, managing science equipment, prior knowledge, social justice in school science, portfolio assessment, gender-inclusive technology, culturally sensitive learning environments, kinematics graphs, and delivery of an inclusive science curriculum. (DDR) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** PERMISSION TO REPRODUCEAND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS EN GRANTEDBY C e. TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Researcn and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION:.. CENTER (ERIC) his ument has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. ::::... ISSN 1323-6245 BEST COPY AVAILABLE (\; 2 Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of the Western Australian Science Education Association Canning College Perth Western Australia 29 November 1996 Edited by Mark W Hackling All correspondence about this publication should be directed to Dr Mark W Hackling Department of Science Education Edith Cowan University Bradford Street Mount Law ley, Western Australia 6050 3 Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of the Western Australian Science Education Association ISSN 1323-6245 Copyright 1996 Western Australian Science Education Association Published by Department of Science Education Edith Cowan University Perth, Western Australia Preface The Western Australian Science Education Association (WASEA)is an informal group of science educators that meets annually for a conference at one of the Perthuniversities. The conference is organised by a committee of representatives from the universities andhas contributed greatly to collegiality amongst the community of science educators in Perth. The first meeting of WASEA was held at the Church lands College of AdvancedEducation in 1975 and has been held each year except in 1979 and 1991 when the WASEA meeting wasincorporated into the meeting of the Australian (now Australasian) Science Education Research Association. These Proceedings comprise edited papers from the 21st meeting held in 1996.This collection of papers has been made available internationally through the Educational Resource InformationCentre (ERIC). Enjoy them. Mark W Hackling Editor iii 5 Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of the Western Australian Science Education Association Preface iii Students' Understanding of Upper and Lower Fixed Points of a Thermometer and it's Influence 1 on their Proportional Reasoning Ayo H. Akatugba and John Wallace The State of Primary Science in Western Australia: A Survey Review 11 Kathleen Broderick and John Wallace The Effectiveness and Improvement of Faculty Culture 21 Robert F Cavanagh Mapping the Development of Conceptual Understandings in Primary Science: Some Initial 27 Findings From Three Year 7 Classes Christine Coulstock and Mark W. Hackling Primary Technology: Teachers Concerns and Challenges 35 Judith Cousins Implementation of a Year 10 Bioethics Unit Based on a Constructivist Epistemology 43 Vaille Dawson The Atomic Model in Science Teaching: Learning Difficulties or Teachers' Problems? 51 Helmut Fischler The Application of Constructivist Learning Strategies to the Redesign of the Lower Secondary 59 Science Curriculum Bob Fitzpatrick Development of an Interactive Multimedia Package Designed to Improve Students' 65 Understanding of Chemical Equations Patrick Garnett. Mark Hackling and Ron Oliver Anyone Can Teach Science: An Old Argument Revisited 73 David R Geelan Prior Knowledge, Prior Conceptions, Prior Constructs: What Do Constructivists Really Mean, 79 And Are They Practising What They Preach? David R Geelan Progression in Learning How to Work Scientifically 85 Mark Hackling, Patrick Garnet and Robert Fairbrother Student Difficulties in Differentiating Heat and Temperature 91 Allan Harrison What are the Qualities of a Good Explanation? 99 Allan Harrison, David Treagust, Grady Venville and Louise Tyson Comparative Study of TEE Chemistry Papers of China and Western Australia 107 Honglia Ma Looking for Social Justice in School Science: Reconstructing School Science Stories 111 Catherine Milne Portfolio Assessment in Lower School Science 119 Terrence Mitchelmore Managing Equipment in Primary Science: New Skills for Experienced Teachers 125 Jennifer Pearson and John Wallace Polly the Pirate and Other Stories: Creating Contradictions in 137 "Gender-Inclusive" Technology? Leonie J. Rennie Primary Investigations: An Evaluation by Teacher Education Students 145 John Rowe `I do feel a little more confident': An Initiative in Primary Science Content 151 Renato Schibeci and Ruth Hickey Delivering an Inclusive Curriculum in Science: An Impossible Dream? 161 Wendy Speering Student Generated Kinematics Graphs 169 Geoff I Swan and Mark W Hackling The Development of a Successful Industry-Education Partnership 177 Rodney B. Thiele and Robyn C. Donnelly The Primary Science Teacher-Leader Project: What Have We Learned? 185 Grady Venville and John Wallace A Culturally Sensitive Learning Environment Instrument for Use in Science Classrooms: 193 Development and Validation Bruce G Waldrip and Darrell L Fisher 6 Students' Understanding of Upper and Lower Fixed Points of a Thermometer and it's Influence on their Proportional Reasoning Ayo H. Akatugba and John Wallace Science and Mathematics Education Centre Curtin University of Technology Abstract This paper delineates students' understanding and interpretations of the upper and lower fixed points of a thermometer which emerged during an investigation of their use of proportional reasoning. The influence of these interpretations on their proportional reasoning ability are also discussed. A qualitative and interpretive case study was carried out with six students from a co-educational urban high school for five months. Research techniques such as dialectic discourses, interviews, video and audio recordings were employed to generate, analyse and interpret data. The findings indicated that in practical terms, students interpreted the upper and lower fixed points of a thermometer to mean the upper and lower limits of any thermometer scale. This made it difficult for the students to solve thermometry tasks using proportional reasoning.In this paper the sources of students' interpretations are explored and the implications for teaching high school physics are discussed. Introduction This paper explores one of the outcomes of a study which investigated aspects of students' use of proportional reasoning in physics.The study adopted an interpretivist framework to understand the meanings, actions, interpretations and constructions of some high school students as they solved physics tasks requiring proportional reasoning. The investigation focused on the various social and psychological aspects of students' use of proportional reasoning within their immediate high school physics classroom contexts. This paper delineates one of the socially and experientially based students' joint constructions which evolved during the study. That is the association between students' understanding of the concept of the upper and lower fixed points of a thermometer and their proportional reasoning. Many of the concepts traditionally taught in secondary school physics are highly abstract and hence require the students to function at the level of formal operations to attain comprehension (Herron, 1978; Shayer & Adey, 1982; Williams & Cavallo, 1995).Several studies have shown that one of the formal reasoning patterns important to students' academic success in high-school science courses, especially physics, is proportional reasoning (Akatugba, 1995; Fleener, 1993; Guckin & Morrison, 1991; Heller, Ahlgren, Post, Behr, & Lesh, 1989; Lamon, 1993; Lawson, Karplus, & Adi, 1978; Whitmer, 1987). However, high school students have difficulty using proportional reasoning (Hart, 1978; Heller et al,