Conceptions of sound before and after visiting an interactive science centre
Robin Beiers · QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) · 1994
Although formal science lessons are the major instruction tool used by teachers, there is an increasing awareness that learning science from informal sources is also a valid tool of teaching. This thesis describes a phenomenographic study of the conceptions of sound held by a group of twenty-seven grade 7 students. These conceptions, or categories of description, were collected before and after a visit to an interactive science centre. The research questions forming the aims of the research were: What conceptions of sound do these students hold? Do these conceptions change after a visit to an interactive science centre? To investigate the conceptions of sound held by students, individual interviews were undertaken prior to the visit to the science centre. The students were interviewed a second time after their visit. Discussion at both these interviews was based around questions and stimulus material developed by the researcher to help students focus on the production, reflection and transmission of sound. The transcriptions of both sets of interviews were subjected to a phenomenographic analysis. Categories and sub-categories of description were found for three sub-concepts of sound - sound production, sound reflection and sound transmission. Student conceptualisations of sound which described these three sub-concepts of sound were found to be stimulus related. The allocation of students to these categories and sub-categories of description was verified by an independent judge. An interjudge reliability rate of over 90% was found for each of the three sub-concepts of sound. The pre-visit and post-visit categories and sub-categories of description held by individual students in relation to each of the stimuli were examined. This examination revealed that 26 of the 27 did change their levels of understanding of aspects of the sub-concepts of sound. The conceptualisations of sound identified in this group of students and the fact that after one museum visit most students in the study exhibited some change in a scientifically more acceptable direction have implications for teachers, curriculum planners and museum curators. These implications and possible directions for further research are discussed.