As Histórias em Quadrinhos (HQ) vêm, há mais de um século, divertindo, informando e educando seus leitores. Seu código de formatação próprio e linguagem universal têm influenciado a formação cultural de várias gerações. Dado esse potencial, o presente trabalho enfoca a utilização das Histórias em Quadrinhos como instrumento para o ensino de física. Com essa perspectiva, apresenta-se nessa investigação uma proposta de utilização das HQ em sala de aula e analisa-se os resultados de sua implementação para o ensino do princípio da inércia. Embasados em um referencial construtivista de ensino, e partindo da hipótese de que a História em Quadrinhos apresenta uma série de características lúdicas e psico-lingüísticas apropriadas ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem, elaboramos uma HQ que buscasse instigar o aluno na busca da resolução de um problema envolvendo a 1a lei de Newton, procurando interpretar a influência desta proposta à luz da Teoria de Mudança Conceitual. Os dados do estudo, obtidos através de questionários, entrevistas, observações de aulas e documentos com cerca de 50 alunos de duas classes da oitava série do ensino fundamental, evidenciam resultados e indícios favoráveis quanto à aprendizagem do referido conceito científico, envolvimento e possibilidades de criatividade por parte dos alunos que utilizaram a História em Quadrinhos no ambiente escolar e à apropriação da proposta por parte da professora que aplicou o projeto em sala de aula. / The Comics Books, for more than one century, have been being entertaining, informing and teaching their readers. Their own formatation code and universal language have been influencing severals generations cultural formation. According to this potential, the present work emphasis the Comics Books usage as Physics teaching instrument. From this point of view, we are showing in this investigation an usage proposal of Comics Books during the classes, and we are, preliminary, analyzing the results of its implementation to the inertia principle teaching. Utilizing a construtivist theory of teaching, and supposing that Comic´s Books have several playing and psico-linguistics characteristics that can be used in the process of teaching and learning, we make a Comic Book that would instigate the student to solve a problem that involved the 1st Newton´s law, interpreting the influency of this proposition through the Conceptual Change´s Theory. The studying data, obtained through questionnaires, interviews, classes observations and documents with 50 students, approximately, of two classes from the last year of the elementary school, show us very favorable results and evidences in relation with the learning of scientific concept, involving e criative possibilites by the students that utilize the comics books in their school enviroment, and the proposal appropriation by the teacher who applies the project in the classes.

The research reported in this thesis arose from a comment made by a student who had achieved highly in examinations yet felt that science: ‘doesn’t make sense’. Different conceptualisations of learning are analysed leading to the development of the concept of making sense as the formation or modification of a conceptual compound in which concepts are related in a coherent causal system that may be transferred to novel situations. This definition is situated within a constructivist epistemology. The research question asks how students make sense of physics concepts in dynamics and electricity. Five 17-18 year-old students, conceptualised as a multiple case study, were selected from an English secondary school using purposeful sampling. The students were interviewed once a week for 22 weeks in sessions using a range of probes such as interviews about instances, concept maps and concept inventory questions. It is assumed that data collection occurred at a frequency that was high relative to the rate of conceptual change, hence, the work is conceptulaised as microgenetic. The analysis focuses on the development of the students’: a) ontologies of concepts from concrete instances towards abstractions; b) conceptual structures from temporary organisations to more stable structures; c) understanding of causality from focused on macroscopic objects to abstract concepts; d) judgments of coherence; f) conceptual change modeled as an alteration in the ‘oftenness’ of application of a concept in a given context; and e) ability to apply concepts to novel contexts. The implications of these findings for teaching and future research are discussed.

As Histórias em Quadrinhos (HQ) vêm, há mais de um século, divertindo, informando e educando seus leitores. Seu código de formatação próprio e linguagem universal têm influenciado a formação cultural de várias gerações. Dado esse potencial, o presente trabalho enfoca a utilização das Histórias em Quadrinhos como instrumento para o ensino de física. Com essa perspectiva, apresenta-se nessa investigação uma proposta de utilização das HQ em sala de aula e analisa-se os resultados de sua implementação para o ensino do princípio da inércia. Embasados em um referencial construtivista de ensino, e partindo da hipótese de que a História em Quadrinhos apresenta uma série de características lúdicas e psico-lingüísticas apropriadas ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem, elaboramos uma HQ que buscasse instigar o aluno na busca da resolução de um problema envolvendo a 1a lei de Newton, procurando interpretar a influência desta proposta à luz da Teoria de Mudança Conceitual. Os dados do estudo, obtidos através de questionários, entrevistas, observações de aulas e documentos com cerca de 50 alunos de duas classes da oitava série do ensino fundamental, evidenciam resultados e indícios favoráveis quanto à aprendizagem do referido conceito científico, envolvimento e possibilidades de criatividade por parte dos alunos que utilizaram a História em Quadrinhos no ambiente escolar e à apropriação da proposta por parte da professora que aplicou o projeto em sala de aula. / The Comics Books, for more than one century, have been being entertaining, informing and teaching their readers. Their own formatation code and universal language have been influencing severals generations cultural formation. According to this potential, the present work emphasis the Comics Books usage as Physics teaching instrument. From this point of view, we are showing in this investigation an usage proposal of Comics Books during the classes, and we are, preliminary, analyzing the results of its implementation to the inertia principle teaching. Utilizing a construtivist theory of teaching, and supposing that Comic´s Books have several playing and psico-linguistics characteristics that can be used in the process of teaching and learning, we make a Comic Book that would instigate the student to solve a problem that involved the 1st Newton´s law, interpreting the influency of this proposition through the Conceptual Change´s Theory. The studying data, obtained through questionnaires, interviews, classes observations and documents with 50 students, approximately, of two classes from the last year of the elementary school, show us very favorable results and evidences in relation with the learning of scientific concept, involving e criative possibilites by the students that utilize the comics books in their school enviroment, and the proposal appropriation by the teacher who applies the project in the classes.

A major component of the values people place on science and their attitude toward it is their openness to new ideas or overall open-mindedness. An individual’s values and attitudes become integrally connected to their prior knowledge and conceptions regarding science and science content. Sometimes the nature of a natural phenomenon and the scientific explanation for the phenomenon is controversial. A controversial scientific concept is one that evokes emotion and forces individuals to assess the values associated with this content and make assessments of their attitudes toward it. This is especially true during learning. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence on how prior knowledge and existing conceptions are related to open-mindedness when learning science content that is regarded as controversial. The participants for this study consisted of 7 elementary science teachers and 8 secondary science teachers. Data collected for the study included the determination of how individuals assessed and used their prior/existing conceptions when learning controversial science content based on individual interviews, an individual’s level of open-mindedness as measured by the Actively Open-minded Thinking scale (AOT) and determined through the interviews, and the assessment of the change in an individual’s level of knowledge regarding geologic time as measured by the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI). The investigation consisted of multiple case studies analyzed within cases and across cases. The teachers’ use of their prior conceptions was determined through the coding of interviews based on the four appropriation modes of Integration, Differentiation, Exchange, and Bridging. Results from the interview data showed that 53% of the teachers differentiated their existing conceptions from new geologic time conceptions, while 47% integrated new conceptions with their prior conceptions. In addition, 40% of the teachers exhibited a bimodal appropriation of their existing conceptions. Bridging and exchange were the secondary appropriation modes observed among bimodal appropriators. No relationships were found between the teachers’ thinking disposition (open-mindedness) and their level of geologic time knowledge, nor where there any relationships found between the teachers’ prior conception appropriation and their geologic time knowledge or their appropriation and thinking disposition.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">This study looks at the effect of a cross-cultural instructional approach on the learners&rsquo / conceptions of lightning and attitude towards science. It explored Basotho conceptions of lightning and thunder under the following themes: nature of lightning, protection against lightning, animalistic/humanistic behaviour of lighting and nature of wounds inflicted by lightning.</p> </font></p>

This thesis examines how pupils in the upper level of compulsory school learn about environmental issues and related theoretical concepts in an instruction employing an investigative approach and thematically organised content. The results of the study give reason to question some central arguments supporting these designs of instruction. Additionally, and primarily, these results contribute to research on concept formation. An understanding of pupils’ difficulties in learning theoretical concepts as a problem of contextualization is derived, representing an alternative to the influential view in which pupils’ difficulties are seen as a problem of conceptual change. Three case studies carried out within the pupils’ regular instruction are presented. The empirical material consists of recorded conversations, observational notes and the pupils’ own written material. The first study shows that the pupils experience difficulty in distinguishing among the different meanings attached to individual concepts in various conceptual contexts. This implies that pupils are often unable to identify the meaning relevant to the specific environmental problem on which they are working. The second study shows that the pupils do not make the connection between theoretical concepts and practical activities, as intended in instruction. Instead, they interpret the concepts within separate practical contexts, i.e. interpretative contexts other than the theoretical contexts. Finally, the third study demonstrates that the context for a pupil’s investigation changes as the pupil’s values concerning the environmental issues are brought to the fore. Thus, the outcome indicates that contextualization is a main factor in pupils’ learning of theoretical concepts. It is shown that the pupils’ understanding of theoretical concepts is dependent on their contextualizations of these concepts, both with regard to different conceptual contexts and with regard to different levels within a context. It is also demonstrated that emotions play a part in pupils’ learning by determining into which context pupils choose to enter.

The aim of this study was to quantitatively measure refutation text's power for conceptual change while qualitatively discovering students' preference of refutation or expository text structures. This study also sought to examine if religious interest levels predict conceptual change. Participants for this study were 9th, 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade seminary students from the private religious educational system of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The study was conducted in two sessions. Session 1 involved pretesting, interventions, and posttesting. Session 2 involved delayed posttesting and participant interviews. Results were predominately measured quantitatively with some qualitative interview analysis added to enrich the study. This research study provides insight into the refutation text effects in LDS religious education. Results of the study showed significant differences in conceptual change between participants reading refutation texts and those reading expository texts. In every case, the refutation text group performed higher on posttests than did the expository group. Results also showed participant preference toward refutation text structures. Furthermore, the study found significant correlations that verify topic interest as a possible predictor of conceptual change. Insights are valuable in aiding curriculum developers in implementing effective ways to teach doctrinal principles by utilizing refutation text interventions. The advantages of this research study add to educational research and identify areas for improvement and exploration in further research. This study of refutation text effects in religious education also broadens researchers' understanding of refutation text's power for conceptual change in subjects outside of K-12 science. Results of this study are of interest to researchers, teachers, curriculum writers, and LDS seminary teachers and administrators.

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 4pt; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1;Mechanics, first experienced by engineering students in introductory physics courses, encompasses an important set of foundational concepts for success in engineering. However, although it has been well known for some time that acquiring a conceptual understanding of mechanics is one of the most difficult challenges faced by students, very few successful attempts to engender conceptual learning have been described in the literature. On the contrary, research has shown that most students participating in university levelcourses had not acquired a Newtonian understanding of mechanics at the end of their respective course. Recently I have described more than 10 years of experiences of designing and using conceptual labs in engineering education that have successfully fostered insightful learning. In the framework of the larger project I have developed labs applying variation theory in the design of task structure and using sensor-computer-technology (“probe-ware”) for collecting and displaying experimental data in real-time. In previous studies, I have shown that these labs using probe-ware can be effective in learning mechanics with normalised gains in the g≈50-60% range and with effect sizes d≈1.1, but that this technology also can be implemented in ways that lead to low achievements. One necessary condition for learning is that students are able to focus on the object of learning and discern its critical features. A way to establish this, according to the theory of variation developed by Marton and co-workers, is through the experience of difference (variation), rather than through the recognition of similarity. In a lab, an experiential human–instrument–world relationship is established. The technology used places some aspects of reality in the foreground, others in the background, and makes certain aspects visible that would otherwise be invisible. In labs, this can be used to bring critical features of the object of learning into the focal awareness of students and to afford variation. In this study, I will account for how the design of task structure according to variation theory, as well as the probe-ware technology, make the laws of force and motion visible and learnable and, especially, in the lab studied make Newton’s third law visible and learnable. I will also, as a comparison, include data from a mechanics lab that use the same probe-ware technology and deal with the same topics in mechanics, but uses a differently designed task structure. I will argue that the lower achievements on the FMCE-test in this latter case can be attributed to these differences in task structure in the lab instructions. According to my analysis, the necessary pattern of variation is not included in the design. I will also present a microanalysis of 15 hours collected from engineering students’ activities in a lab about impulse and collisions based on video recordings of student’s activities in a lab about impulse and collisions. The important object of learning in this lab is the development of an understanding of Newton’s third law. The approach analysing students interaction using video data is inspired by ethnomethodology  and conversation analysis, i.e. I will focus on students practical, contingent and embodied inquiry in the setting of the lab. I argue that my result corroborates variation theory and show this theory can be used as a ‘tool’ for designing labs as well as for analysing labs and lab instructions.  Thus my results have implications outside the domain of this study and have implications for understanding critical features for student learning in labs.

Conceptual change is one of the most important influences in modern educational research and this theoretical framework can be used for empirical research aimed at improving our common knowledge about learning as well as developing new theories and practices within the education system. In its very basic meaning, conceptual change can be explained as a person who during the course of the learning experience changes their initial conception of a phenomenon (such as a object or a concept) from one specific point of view to another. The aim of this study is to map out the differences and similarities between two seemingly opposite movements within today’s pedagogical research community. Within phenomenography a constitutionalist approach to learning is used, which means that the conceptions formed by students are considered to be an internal representation of the individual’s interpretation of their own knowledge in relation to their surroundings. The intentional analytical approach suggests that contextualisation is necessary for conceptual change to take place, for the student to be able to interpret the assignment or task at hand and then incorporate that in meaningful activity that will lead to a successful learning process. Both the intentional and the phenomenographic approach agree that it is the meaning of a task that is important in the learning situation, but the differences lie in the ways of distinguishing what this meaning consists of as well as the means of finding out what the meaning is to an individual. / Begreppsutveckling är en av de viktigaste influenserna inom det pedagogiska forskningsområdet. Denna teoretiska inriktning innebär att man genom empirisk forskning studerar lärande och dess kontext. Detta kan sedan bidra till vår kunskap om vad som påverkar lärprocessen samt hur denna skulle kunna användas i utvecklingen av nya didaktiska metoder och verktyg. Begreppsutveckling kan förstås som teorier om hur en individ, genom övning och reflektion ändrar en grundläggande uppfattning om ett fenomen eller objekt från en specifik uppfattning till en annan. I den här litteraturstudien, kommer jag att försöka kartlägga två skilda sätt att anta utmaningen att undersöka hur lärande genom begreppsutveckling kan förstås och tolkas, nämligen fenomenografi och intentionell analys. Fenomenografi är utvecklat med en konstitutionell ansats till lärandet, där man menar att de koncept som individen använder formas genom interna representationer av den egna tolkningen av omgivningen samt hur det egna konceptet relaterar till omgivningen. Intentionell analys å andra sidan menar att begreppsutveckling uppstår när individen kontextualiserar uppgiften genom meningsskapande processer i relation till omgivningen och att detta beskriver lärprocessen. Den gemensamma nämnaren för båda dessa perspektiv är att det är meningsskapandet för individen som är nyckeln till lärandet. Skillnaden mellan dem märks i synen på lärandet i de meningsskapande processerna där man närmar sig betydelsen av denna process som den ter sig för den lärande individen.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the conceptual change oriented instruction using hands-on activities and traditionally designed chemistry instruction on 10th grade students&rsquo / understanding of gases concept. Also, the effect of instruction on students&rsquo / attitude toward chemistry as a school subject was investigated. The sample of the study consisted of 59 tenth grade students from two chemistry classes in a public high school. This study was conducted during the 2006-2007 fall semester. The classes were randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. Students in the control group were instructed by traditionally designed chemistry instruction whereas students in the experimental group were instructed by the conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied with hands-on activities. Gases concept test and Attitude Scale Toward Chemistry were administered to both groups as a pre-test and post-test to assess the students&rsquo / understanding of gases concepts and to determine their attitudes toward chemistry, respectively. Science Process Skills Test was given only at the beginning of the instruction to determine students&rsquo / science process skills. v The hypotheses were tested by using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The post-test results showed that conceptual change oriented instruction using hands-on activities caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific conceptions related to gases concept. But it was found that treatment has no significant effect on students&rsquo / attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject.