Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Teaching–Learning Sequence on Heat Conduction

Abstract

A review of the literature on students’ ideas about thermal concepts and phenomena indicates that primary students tend to associate material properties with the concept of heat and perceive water and air as good heat conductors. These ideas appear to represent a significant obstacle to the conceptual understanding of heat conduction. In this study, a Teaching–Learning Sequence on heat conduction was designed and implemented in order to capture students’ learning pathways while they were taught the phenomenon in question. This study was carried out using the Teaching Experiment method on twelve fifth graders. Qualitative methods were used for the data analysis. The results indicated specific learning pathways through which students could construct elements of the scientifically accepted view of heat conduction. Although, initially, all the students attributed material properties to the concept of heat, at the end of the sequence, the majority were able to provide explanations of the phenomenon that were more aligned with the scientific perspective. The major obstacles encountered by students in their learning pathways and strategies for overcoming them were identified. Additionally, significant findings emerged that could inform the enrichment of the sequence in a potential re-implementation.

Keywords

• heat conduction
• learning pathways
• primary level education