Factors Influencing the Integration of Everyday Ideas and Scientific Understanding in the Science Class : A Study on Students' Ability to Identify Solutions

Abstract

When students' ideas of a water solution are examined, they seem to consist of a large amount of everyday experience-based ideas and a small amount of scientific understanding. This study aims to clarify the factors that may influence the integration of everyday ideas and scientific understanding as students try to construct their ideas of a given solution in a science class. For this purpose, a teaching plan in which Grade 6 elementary school students are asked to classify unknown solutions was prepared. To determine the students' ideas of a solution before and after the science class, they were asked to make a concept map based on a given key word. According to their concept maps, they were then divided into two groups: the integrated map group and the non-integrated map group. Each group performed the activities, and they were observed especially during their discussions when the group had to classify the solutions. The discussions that took place in each group were classified into four types: repetition, making sense, questions, and other chat. Analysis of the data seems to show that there were more repetitions in the conversations of the integrated map group, suggesting that repetition may be an important factor in the integration of everyday ideas and scientific understanding.