A study of the first grade students' conceptual learning of the topic on sound by using the human constructivism strategy

• Main Authors: Chiu Hsueh-Mei, 邱雪媚
• Other Authors: 耿筱曾
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/87862762211525419653

碩士 === 國立台北師範學院 === 自然科學教育研究所 === 93 === Abstract This study is based on three perspectives of the human constructivism theory. These perspectives are applied in teaching strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore the first grade students’ preconceptions, conceptual learning processes and outcomes of the topic on sound. This study is divided into three parts, they are: 1. The use of worksheets, pretests, posttests, teaching journals, and interviews to collect students’ concepts about sound. 2. Interview with students: The teacher constructs the scaffolding for learning. She divides the complex questions into small items about the five senses, so that students can answer them separately. 3. Data is classified according to the senses of sight, hearing, and feeling. The aim is to show students’ outcomes of sensory observation. This study used a qualitative research methodology. It was based on the purposeful sampling method. There were 33 students participating in activities related to this research, 12 of them were selected to be interviewed and their concepts collected. Using these data, the findings are indicated as follows: 1. Students can distinguish sounds by their loudness: They have misconceptions that the high sound meant loud, and the low sound meant “less loud”. They can only describe different sounds by using “loud” and “less loud” words. 2. Students can’t detect that “the production of sound” is related to “vibration”. 3. Most students have no concept that the sound needs the medium to travel. : They think that the sound is transported from the source to the receiver directly. They have almost no ideas about the medium. 4. Most thought that distance and loudness are factors of sound’s traveling. 5. Most accept easily that the sound can travel through a cotton thread, but they don’t think that sound can travel through a table as well. :Since the shape of a cotton thread is similar to the telephone wire, they can only detect that sound traveled through a cotton thread. The table is square, so the sound can’t travel through it. “Sound” is abstract. Students explain the phenomenon according to their daily experiences and observe sounds in eyes, and produce ideas that different from the scientists. These are the features of the intuitive learners. The teacher uses students’ preconceptions and learning characteristics to construct the scaffolding of learning. The purpose of the scaffolding learning is to reduce the distance of ZPD, and to help children reach the goal of the meaningful learning.