Orientador: Matilde V. R. Scaramucci / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-03T07:33:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Souza_LucianaGarutti_M.pdf: 3463030 bytes, checksum: 7f7987b692167828221cf9de7a174049 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2002 / Resumo: Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar o ensino de produção escrita em um curso de inglês, examinando as forças que influenciam esse ensino. Mais especificamente, busquei observar se o ensino da escrita em um curso de línguas é decorrente da concepção de escrita do professor e do material didático por ele utilizado, ou se tal ensino é influenciado pela concepção de linguagem presente na avaliação, que seriam provas finais da própria escola e exames de proficiência em língua inglesa. Apesar de os resultados revelarem que o exame de proficiência (CAE) e a prova final do curso que serviu de contexto para a presente pesquisa apresentam uma concepção inovadora de linguagem escrita, o efeito retroativo exercido por esse exame e pela prova final no ensino no contexto investigado é pequeno, refletindo apenas seu conteúdo em si, ou seja, a escrita. Em outras palavras, tanto pela estrutura do material didático utilizado, como pelas respostas dos professores aos questionários e durante as entrevistas, bem como pela observação de aulas, foi possível observar uma visão de escrita diferente daquelas que fundamentam o exame e a prova final. Para os professores do contexto pesquisado, a escrita é vista como habilidade auxiliar, que reforça a aprendizagem das outras / Abstract: The aim of the present research was to investigate the teaching of writing in na Engish course, examining the forces that can influence this teaching. More specifically, I aimed to observe whether the teaching of writing in a language course was consequence of the teacher¿sconception of writing or whether this teaching was influenced by the conception of writing found in evaluation, that would be the final test of the school, chose to be the context of this research, and proficiency examination in English (CAE). The results revealed that the proficiency examination and the final test have an innovative conception of written language. According to this conception written language has a social role ans is integrated with the other skills. However, the backwash effect of the examination and the final test is little in the context that I investigated, reflecting only its contet, that is the writing skill. In other words, by the analysed data, in this context, it was possible to observe that for the teachers writing is only a kind of reinforcement to the other skills / Mestrado / Ensino-Aprendizagem de Segunda Lingua e Lingua Estrangeira / Mestre em Linguística Aplicada

Depression in adolescents is a ubiquitous mental health problem presenting ambiguities, uncertainties, and diverse challenges in its conceptualization, presentation, detection, and treatment. Despite the plethora of research on adolescent depression, there exists a paucity of research in regards to obtaining information from the adolescents themselves. In a mixed method, cross-sectional study, adolescents (N= 332) in grades 8 and 11 provided their conceptions of depression. Adolescents' self-recognition of depression was examined in association with depressive symptomatology and reported pathways to talking to someone. Adolescents' social and emotional competence was also examined in association with severity of their depressive symptomatology. Developed categories and subcategories of adolescent depression were guided by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) criteria for Major Depressive Episode (MDE) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). Adolescents' definitions of depression were dominated by subjective, holistic interpretations and add new information and depth to the previous research on adolescent depression. Depressed Mood and Social Impairment were the core categories, both contained intricate subcategories. The frequencies of these constructs provide a map of the themes and subthemes that pervade adolescents' personal philosophies regarding adolescent depression. About half of the adolescents who self-recognized depression within two weeks (45%),qualify into screened depression (Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale -2" version [RADS-2];Reynolds, 2002) criteria based on the DSM-IV-TR for MDE (APA, 2000). However, this study's findings showed that the mean for screened Depression Total Score (RADS-2; Reynolds, 2002)was significantly higher in those adolescents who self-recognized versus those who did not self-recognize depression. The majority of lifetime self-recognizers of depression thought that they needed to talk to someone and reported that they talked to someone when feeling depressed. Poor Emotion Awareness was a strong contributor to increasing vulnerability to depressive symptomatology. This study provides new theoretical insights regarding the concept and detection of adolescent depression, and links between social and emotional competence and depressive symptomatology. These findings extend previous research (APA, 2000), provide new understanding to guide future research, and have direct implications for research, policy, and practice strategies aimed to better communicate with and help young people with and without depression. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study involves a group of pre-service teachers who are specialising in Science and Mathematics education at a university in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The aim of the study was to investigate perceptions about the earth in space held by the pre-service natural science teachers. A related aim was to create awareness among the prospective teachers about various views that people hold about the earth as against the scientifically valid view (Govender, 2009, Plummer & Zahm, 2010, Schneps & Sadler, 1989). To determine and improve the prospective teachers’ perceptions and awareness about the significance of the earth in space the study adopted the dialogical argumentation model (DAIM) and spatial modelling as a theoretical framework (Ogunniyi, 2013). Further, the study used pre- and post-test data based on the responses of the pre-service teachers to questionnaires, focus group interviews and reflective diaries. The data set was analysed using a mixed methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). Results from the study show that most the pre-service teachers involved in the study hold both scientific and alternative conceptions about the earth in space. However, they seem to suppress the latter because they believe them to be unscientific. In addition they believe that their role is to impart scientific knowledge to learners. As has been revealed in a number of studies, some of the prospective teachers did not have much background in geography.

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective teachers' conceptions of science instruction prior to the commencement of their early childhood education methods courses. A sample of 100 prospective teachers' drawings and narratives were analyzed using the STLP3 instrument and inductive analysis respectively. Merging findings from the aforementioned analyses resulted in 10 distinct conceptions and these included: (a) science instruction (1) as a demonstration, (2) as engagement, (3) as doing experiments, (4) as inquiry, and (5) as observation all underscored by active learning and social, implementation and cognitive dimensions; (b) science instruction (6) as implementing safety, and (7) as an interaction both underscored by active learning and a social dimension; and (c) science instruction (8) as a demonstration, and (9) as engagement both underscored by passive learning and an affective dimension; and (d) science instruction (10) as enjoyment underscored by social and affective dimensions. These findings reflected the complexity and multidimensionality of the prospective teachers' conceptions of science instruction. Implications include the need for teacher educators to situate their prospective teachers' prior and new knowledge of early childhood science instruction within theoretical frames rather than simply relying on prospective teachers' knowledge of science instruction from K-12 experiences. Implications for future research include the need to study prospective teachers' conceptions prior to and at the end of early childhood methods courses.

Cette recherche impliquée et impliquante nous a permis d’aborder « Les conceptions de l’animation socioculturelle dans les formations à l’animation de niveau III, Bac +2, à travers des formations proposées par des universités et des organismes de formation ». C’est à travers les différents contextes de formation, les valeurs défendues dans le métier d’animateur et de coordinateur, ainsi que les rapports théories et pratiques, que nous avons pu analyser le point de vue des étudiants et stagiaires avant la formation, et après la formation suivie.Nous avons pu comparer les décalages existants entre les curriculums formels, réels et cachés de ces formations, mais aussi établir des nuances dans les conceptions de l’animation socioculturelle à travers le macrosociologique et le microsociologique. / This implied research and impliquante allowed us to approach «The conceptions of the sociocultural animation in the trainings in the level animation III, Bac + 2, through trainings proposed by universities and bodies of training”.It is through the various contexts of training, the values defended in the profession by presenter and by coordinator, as well as reports theories and practices, that we were able to analyze the point of view of the students and the trainees before the training, and after the followed training.We were able to compare the existing gaps between curricula formal, real and hidden from these trainings, but also to establish nuances in the conceptions of the sociocultural animation through the macrosociological and the microsociological..

Le travail de recherche présenté ici prend place dans le département de l’Allier, en Auvergne. Au travers de deux dispositifs – le premier vise à réduire les inégalités sociales de santé d’un territoire, le second à impliquer les membres des établissements scolaires dans une réflexion sur la promotion de la santé – nous cherchons à déterminer les relations qu’il peut y avoir entre les conceptions et les pratiques déclarées de collégiens avec les conceptions et les pratiques déclarées de professionnels d’un territoire sur les questions de santé et de bien-être des adolescents. Pour explorer ce sujet, nous nous appuyons sur deux recueils de données. Le premier est constitué de 49 entretiens semi-directifs et concerne les conceptions et pratiques déclarées de professionnels par rapport aux questions de santé et de bien-être des adolescents. Le second, basé sur 1170 questionnaires renseignés par des collégiens, porte sur les conceptions que les adolescents ont de leur santé et de leur bien-être ainsi que sur leurs pratiques relatives à ces questions. L’étude des systèmes de conceptions de divers professionnels en lien avec les conceptions et pratiques d’adolescents nous permettent de penser que la formation des professionnels sur les questions de santé, d’éducation à la santé et de promotion de la santé devraient permettre aux différents acteurs de mieux appréhender la complexité de leur public concernant les questions de santé et de bien-être, de mieux prendre en compte les différentes dimensions de la santé en favorisant le développement des compétences psychosociales et l’empowerment de leur public ainsi que la qualité des interactions entre pairs. De même, les questions concernant la prise en compte par les professionnels de l’environnement, notamment familial, des adolescents devraient être approfondies. / This research work takes place in the Department of Allier in Auvergne in Central France. Through two projects - the first aims to reduce social inequalities in health of a territory, the second aims to involve schools in a reflection on the health promotion - we are trying to determine the relationships there may be between the conceptions and declared practices of middle school students with the conceptions and the practices of professionals of a territory on issues of health and well-being of adolescents. To explore this topic, we rely on two collections of data. The first consists of 49 semi-structured interviews with respect to conceptions and practices of professionals with regard to questions of health and well-being of adolescents. The second, based on 1170 questionnaires filled in by school boys and girls, deals with conceptions and declared practices that adolescents have on their health and their well-being. The review of systems of conceptions of various professionals in relation to the concepts and practices of adolescents allow us to think that the training of professionals on the issues of health, health education and health promotion should enable stakeholders to better understand the complexity of their public about health and well-being issues; better take account of the different dimensions of health by promoting the development of life-skills and the empowerment of the adolescents and the quality of peer relationships. Then, issues concerning how does stakeholders take into account environment of adolescents, including family, should be improved.

Les recherches sur le développement des conceptions en physique mettent l’accent soit sur des processus intraindividuels, soit sur des processus situés dans les situations collectives. En revanche, les situations individuelles et leur intérêt dans la construction des idées restent mal définies. Une expérimentation pré-/post-test a permis de suivre 106 enfants de 10 ans qui prédisent, justifient et expliquent de manière générale le phénomène de flottaison des objets. L’entraînement leur propose d’utiliser des objets et des outils pour élaborer à trois reprises une explication du phénomène, sans feedback de l’adulte. Quatre conditions expérimentales sont comparées. Dans deux conditions, les enfants travaillent par trois fois soit individuellement, soit en dyade. Deux autres conditions articulent des situations solitaires et dyadique : dans une condition, ils s’entraînent en individuel puis en dyade puis en individuel ; dans une autre, ils s’entraînent en dyade puis en individuel puis en dyade. Les évolutions cognitives diffèrent selon les conditions. Le fait de travailler régulièrement en dyade favorise l’enrichissement des justifications particulières. Le fait de faire travailler les enfants ensemble enrichirait le répertoire argumentatif pour décrire la réaction des objets. L’entraînement individuel-dyadique-individuel favorise de meilleures prédictions. Cette articulation spécifique des situations amènerait une restructuration plus profonde des connaissances. Il y a donc des articulations de situations plus favorables selon les performances attendues. L’analyse des conduites pendant l’entraînement et les études de cas révèlent l’importance des contradictions rencontrées, dues à la fois à l’hétérogénéité des objets, aux interactions entre pairs et à la présence d’outils. Des pistes de recherche et d’application sont enfin proposées. / Research on how children conceptualize the principles of physics classically emphasizes intraindividual processes or collective situations. Individual situations and their consequences on the development of concepts are poorly defined. A pre-/post-test study was conducted in a school setting with 106 ten-year-old children. Children had to predict, justify and generally explain the phenomenon of buoyancy exhibited by objects immersed in water. During the training phases, they were free to use objects and instruments to write a general explanation. This task was repeated three times, which enable us to compare four experimental conditions: (1) children who worked individually; (2) children who worked in close collaboration; (3) children who began working individually, then worked in a dyad, and then worked again individually; and (4) children who began working in dyads, then worked individually, and then worked again in dyads. Evolution of cognition differed. When they are trained regularly in dyads, children develop better justifications of their particular predictions. Working in dyads enriches their argumentative repertoire to describe objects’ reactions. The individual-dyadic-individual training was the only experimental condition that led to progressively more accurate predictions. This specific combination may lead to a restructuration of cognitive processes. Each combination of social situation has a different effect on the childrens’ ability to predict, justify and generally explain. During the training, general and specific analyses of the practices of the children helped us to propose a detailed interpretation: these analyses show that children are confronted with different contradictions depending not only on their interactions with peers, but also with heterogeneous objects and tools. Future research is proposed.

Notre thèse s’inscrit dans le champ de la Promotion de la Santé définit par l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé. L’activité de la recherche consiste principalement à évaluer l’efficacité de la Promotion de la Santé au travers de programmes d’interventions, pour ainsi démontrer ses effets sur la santé des populations et par la même son utilité sociale. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous nous demandons si le programme est la seule modalité d’intervention en Promotion de la Santé alors même qu’il répond à des attendus de la Santé Publique. Nous proposons une modalité alternative plus en phase avec la Promotion de la Santé, à savoir la notion de dispositif dont la figure centrale est le sujet. Mais parce que les interventions de professionnels au sein d’un dispositif peuvent différer en fonction de leur perception du terme de santé, cela nécessite un temps d’explicitation pour déterminer leurs intentions. Nous nous appuyons sur les théories de l’intervention interdisciplinaire et des conceptions en santé pour déterminer les fondements d’un dispositif en Promotion de la Santé. L’intervention interdisciplinaire est principalement conditionnée à l’engagement des professionnels qui auront, au préalablement, déterminé un problème commun. Les conceptions en santé participent, quant à elles, à structurer nos actions dans les situations quotidiennes relatives à notre santé, elles peuvent aussi éclairer les situations qui concernent les professionnels qui ont à décider et agir dans une perspective promotrice de santé des sujets qu’ils accompagnent. Ceci nous permet d’alimenter un objet de recherche en Promotion de la Santé autour de l’implantation d’un dispositif. En inscrivant les sujets comme point nodal d’un dispositif, nous nous interrogeons sur ce qui leur permettrait de décider d’y participer ce qui constitue notre question de recherche. Pour ce faire, nous avons étudié un dispositif en Promotion de la Santé, EST03, qui vise l’accompagnement d’acteurs territoriaux qui interviennent auprès d’enfants et d’adolescents. Nous nous sommes focalisés sur un moment clé que sont les prémices de ce dispositif où des professionnels sont en situation de déterminer leur engagement. Nous avons conçu deux protocoles permettant le recueil puis l’analyse de discours de 63 sujets, par la méthode de l’entretien semi-dirigé, concernant leur activité professionnelle et les liens avec le terme de santé. Nous avons utilisé le logiciel d’analyse de contenu qualitatif Nvivo 11© et avons élaboré deux étapes d’analyse. La première a permis la constitution de 812 références. La deuxième étape de l’analyse a permis de révéler 28 conceptions en santé mobilisées par les sujets. En utilisant une mesure de similarité nous avons observé l’existence d’une conception collective en santé dans une situation asynchrone puis avons confirmé la présence d’un méta-système de conceptions en santé. Nous discutons d’une limite méthodologique quant à la situation même de l’entretien entendue comme une situation perturbatrice. Cette dernière interroge l’engagement du chercheur dans sa posture avec l’objet de recherche mais qui permet d’être en phase avec la temporalité réelle des prémices d’un dispositif. Nous revenons sur l’hypothèse principale en indiquant que le processus d’explicitation des conceptions en santé constitue un indicateur de mobilisation des professionnels par son effet déclencheur. Le méta-système de conceptions en santé observé permet, quant à lui, d’établir une liaison avec la notion d’activité collective mais également avec le concept sociologique de la négociation. Cela nous permet d’établir quelques conditions préalables à un dispositif en Promotion de la Santé à savoir l’explicitation des conceptions en santé des sujets en amont du dispositif, l’activité collective comme modalité d’organisation du dispositif, la reconnaissance et la valorisation explicites des institutions quant à l’activité collective des professionnels et la coordination des tâches / Our thesis falls within the scope of Health Promotion defined by the World Health Organization. The research activity consists mainly of evaluating the effectiveness of Health Promotion through intervention programs, thus demonstrating its effects on the health of the populations and by the same its social utility. In the framework of this thesis, we wonder if the program is the only modality of intervention in Health Promotion even though it responds to expectations of Public Health. We propose an alternative modality more in line with the Promotion of Health, namely the concept of device whose central figure is the subject. But because the interventions of professionals within a device can differ according to their perception of the term of health, it requires a time of explanation to determine their intentions. We rely on theories of interdisciplinary intervention and health conceptions to lay the foundation for a Health Promotion device. Interdisciplinary intervention is mainly conditioned by the commitment of professionals who will have previously identified a common problem. The health conceptions participate, as for them, to structure our actions in the daily situations relating to our health, they can also enlighten the situations which concern the professionals who have to decide and act in a perspective promoter of health of the subjects which they accompany. This allows us to feed an object of research in Health Promotion around the implementation of a device. By listing topics as a nodal point of a device, we question what would allow them to decide to participate in what constitutes our research question. To do this, we studied a device in Health Promotion, EST03, which aims to support territorial actors who intervene with children and adolescents. We focused on a key moment that is the beginnings of this device where professionals are in a position to determine their commitment. We conceived two protocols allowing the collection and the analysis of speeches of 63 subjects, by the method of the semi-directed interview, concerning their professional activity and the links with the term of health. We used the qualitative content analysis software Nvivo 11 © and developed two analysis steps. The first allowed the constitution of 812 references. The second stage of the analysis revealed 28 health conceptions mobilized by the subjects. Using a similarity measure, we observed the existence of a healthy collective design in an asynchronous situation and then confirmed the presence of a meta-system of healthy conceptions. We discuss a methodological limit on the very situation of the interview as a disruptive situation. The latter questions the commitment of the researcher in his posture with the research object but which allows to be in phase with the real temporality of the beginnings of a device. We return to the main hypothesis by indicating that the process of explaining conceptions in health is an indicator of mobilization of professionals by its triggering effect. The meta-system of conceptions in health observed makes it possible to establish a link with the notion of collective activity but also with the sociological concept of negotiation. This allows us to establish some prerequisites for a device in Health Promotion, namely the explanation of the health conceptions of the subjects upstream of the device, the collective activity as modality of organization of the device, recognition and valorization of the collective activity of professionals by the institutions and the coordination of tasks

L’éducation à la sexualité est une réponse opposable au comportement sexuel à risque desjeunes. Plusieurs instances internationales (Unesco, OMS, Onusida, Unicef) encouragent sonintégration à l’école, notamment dans les pays d’Afrique subsaharienne où la prévalence desITS et VIH/sida demeure élevée. Toutefois, l’absence d’un corpus littéraire de référence enéducation à la sexualité rend difficile cette intégration. L’implémentation de cette éducation àl’école dans les pays d’Afrique subsaharienne nécessite une prise en compte des spécificitéssocioéconomiques, culturelles, institutionnelles et des conceptions individuelles des jeunessur la sexualité, qui sont des déterminants de leurs comportements sexuels. La mobilisationdes enseignants sur cette tâche n’est pas acquise, notamment en raison de multiplesrésistances dont ils font preuve, et dont il convient d’isoler les origines.Cette thèse est consacrée d’une part à l’étude des conceptions des élèves sur l’éducation à lasexualité et leurs besoins éducatifs exprimés et d’autre part, à l’étude des conceptions et despratiques professionnelles des enseignants en éducation à la sexualité au Cameroun. Dans laperspective d’élaborer des modèles théoriques d’intervention, et des dispositifs de formationdes enseignants en éducation à la sexualité qui soient adéquats au contexte africain, notrerecherche explore les facteurs susceptibles d’influer tant sur la mise en œuvre que la réussitede cette action à l’école dans les pays d’Afrique subsaharienne en s’appuyant sur l’exempledu Cameroun. Elle repose sur une enquête par questionnaire menée auprès des élèves desclasses de quatrième et de troisième d’enseignement général (n=3071), et des enseignants dupremier cycle de l’enseignement général (n=368) du Cameroun.Cette recherche montre que les conceptions individuelles des élèves sont plutôt favorables àl’éducation à la sexualité à l’école et qu’ils considèrent l’école et les enseignants comme desacteurs légitimes de cette éducation. Discutant peu de sexualité avec leurs parents, leursprincipales sources d’information est la télévision, l’école et Internet. Les élèves émettent desbesoins éducatifs s’articulant autour des cinq dimensions de la sexualité.Contrairement aux élèves, les enseignants ont des conceptions plutôt défavorables àl’éducation à la sexualité à l’école, renforcées par le peu de pratique qu’ils ont en éducation àla sexualité et le manque de formation. Près de la moitié des enseignants se dédouanent decette mission et remettent en cause son inclusion à l’école. Ils affichent une méconnaissancetant des besoins et des attentes réelles des élèves en éducation à la sexualité que des effets decette action éducative sur la santé des jeunes. Ils entretiennent également un fort sentimentd’incompétence pour cette action éducative. Pourtant, ces enseignants sont majoritairement enaccord avec le fait que l’éducation à la sexualité des jeunes est vraiment nécessaire. / Education on sexuality or “sex education” aims to reduce risky sexual behaviour amongadolescents and young adults in particular. Several international organisations (UNESCO,WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF) encourage sex education in schools, particularly in countries ofsub-Saharan Africa where sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/Aids remainfrequent. However the lack of literature on sex education in schools makes implementing suchpolicies difficult. Developing sex education in schools of sub-Saharan Africa requires takinginto account the specific socio-Economic, cultural and institutional contexts of these countries,as well as the individual conceptions that young people have of sexuality and whichdetermine their sexual behaviour. Teacher involvement in this task is not evident either, asteachers tend to resist implementing sex education for various reasons that should beidentified and analyzed.These PhD thesis studies pupil conceptions of sex education and the needs they identify inthis domain on one hand, and the conceptions and professional practices of teachers in sexeducation on the other hand, in the country of Cameroon. With the purpose of contributing thedevelopment of theoretical models of intervention and a framework for teacher training in sexeducation adapted to the African context, our research attempts to identify the factors thataffect the implementation and the success of sex education in sub-Saharan Africa via the caseof Cameroon. Our study is based on a survey of middle-School pupils (n=3071) and a surveyof general education teachers (n=368) in Cameroon.Results show that pupil individual conceptions are favourable to sex education in schools, andthat pupils consider their teachers and their schools to be legitimate providers of sexeducation. Pupils rarely discuss sexuality with their parents, whereas their main sources ofinformation on sexuality are the television, school, and the internet. The pupils expressededucational needs encompassing the five dimensions of sexuality.In contrast, we found that teachers do not tend to perceive sex education in schoolsfavourably. This position appears to be to be linked to their limited experience of teachingsexual education, and the lack of training they have received in the teaching of sex education.Nearly half of the teachers interviewed do not feel concerned by the subject and feel that sexeducation should not be taught in schools. Also teachers demonstrated an overall lack ofunderstanding of pupil needs and expectations as well as the impact that sex education couldhave on the health of their pupils. Many teachers maintain the position that they are notcompetent and in sex education and even that it is not their role. However the majority of theteachers investigated do agree that there is a real need for sex education for adolescents and young adults.

States of matter and phase changes are important topics in the teaching and learning of physical science. It is a common fact that learners find it difficult to understand the states of matter and phase changes. One of the main reasons is that learners do not abandon their own naive perceptions when the scientific concepts are taught. They do not connect their experiences outside the laboratory / classroom with their experience in science lessons. Learners consequently hold their own views even after instruction. According to the constructivist view on teaching and learning educators need to take learners' perceptions into account in the teaching of these topics. The first aim with this study was to determine learners' alterative conceptions about the states of matter and phase changes from a literature study. The second was to determine by means of an empirical study the alterative conceptions Grade 11 learners still hold after instruction of the topics. The empirical survey was conducted amongst a group of 110 Grade 11 learners studying physical science. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on this group of learners' knowledge on the states of matter and of phase changes after instruction of these topics. From the results of the questionnaire alternative conceptions could be identified. The results of the empirical study indicate that learners still have alternative conceptions about the states of matter and phase changes after instruction. Alternative conceptions were identified and recommendations on how to teach the states of matter and phase changes more effectively were made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.