Primary and Secondary Students' Conceptual Patterns Regarding "Decay"

Author: Shu-mey Yu(National Taichung Teachers College)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 48, No.2
Date：October 2003
Pages：165-196
DOI：10.6300/JNTNU.2003.48(2).02

Abstract：

The purpose of this study was to investigate 4th-11th grade students' conceptual patterns with regard to "decay" in central Taiwan. The subjects included 40 students for the interview task, 275 for the open-ended questionnaires and 1266 for a two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test; they were selected from elementary, junior and senior high schools in central Taiwan. A semi-structured interview task, open-ended questionnaires and two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument were developed and conducted by a group of elementary and secondary school science teachers. Interview data and open-ended questionnaires were coded and analyzed. The two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic tests were analyzed by SPSS10.0. Results identified five conceptual patterns regarding decay: (1) natural phenomena; 2) being eaten by animals; (3) the influence of physical factors such as sunlight, air, and water; (4) assimilated decay conceptions; and (5) complete decay conceptions. Secondary students having assimilated conceptions of decay could be divided into four patterns. 4th-6th grade students tend to manifest (1) natural-phenomena and (2) devoured-by- animals conceptual patterns. 7th-11th grade students tend to manifest (4) assimilated- decay conceptual patterns.

Keywords：Assimilated conceptions, Biological decay, Conceptual patterns, Diagnostic tests, Primary students, Secondary students

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