Chinese Journal of Science Education


Vol. 12 No. 3 , Pages 311 - 340 , 2004

The Development of a Diagnostic Instrument to Investigate Students’ Alternative Conceptions of Reflection and Refraction of Light (Article written in Chinese)

Jun-Yi CHEN, Huey-Por CHANG, & Chorng-Jee GUO

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to diagnose junior high school students’ alternative conceptions of reflection and refraction of light. Eleven test items were categorized into four core concepts: image formed by a plane mirror, image formed by a convex lens, law of reflection, and law of refraction. This instrument was administered to eighty students (seventh and eighth graders) from two schools. After systematically analyzing the data gathered from the students’ answers to the diagnostic survey, the researchers interviewed fifteen students selected according to the types of their alternative conceptions. It was found that students’ alternative conceptions of reflection and refraction of light could be divided into three aspects: the size of image formed by a plane mirror, the location of image by a plane mirror, and the image formed by a convex lens. In addition, four possible factors associated with these students’ alternative conceptions were found: (a) the inability of the primary level science curriculum to provide students with a systematic introduction to these concepts; (b) the misinterpretation of daily experience; (c) linguistic problems, such as misunderstanding of words or phrases; and (d) inappropriate connection and inference to a new context. The result of this study can assist science teachers to understand students’ alternative conceptions of reflection and refraction of light. Science teachers can further select appropriate teaching strategies to cope with students’ conceptions and help students to construct scientific conceptions.

Keywords: alternative conceptions; reflection; refraction

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