The epistemology of the students in the fourth grade for the formation of scientific knowledge

• Main Authors: Hsiu-ping Yu, 游琇萍
• Other Authors: Jer-Yann Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/29976059469630956607

碩士 === 國立臺南大學 === 自然科學教育學系碩士班 === 94 === The purpose of this study is to explore the types and differences of the epistemology of the students in the fourth grade for the formation of their scientific knowledge. The researcher interviewed thirteen students by the method of semi-structured interview. In the process of this interview,the students were asked to recall their scientific knowledge of water, to elaborate on all the possible ways helping their learning, and to describe how they acquire scientific knowledge.The interviews were tape-recorded. The transcript of these tapes were analyzed and compared with the educational environment of interviewees. The results of this study are as follows: 1. The students in the fourth grade are mainly influenced by empiricism and constructivism for the formation of their scientific knowledge. 2. The first stage of students for the formation of scientific knowledge is influenced by empiricism, and most of the students relied on teachers’ demonstration and textbooks. 3. The characteristics of constructivism are found for the formation of scientific knowledge of the students in the fourth grade. However the constructivism affects less than empiricism, and occurs mainly in the self-administered learning after science learning. 4. Empiricism and constructivism are simultaneously adopted in the formation of scientific knowledge of the students in the fourth grade, but there are some individual differences among students. 5. In addition to the empiricism and constructivism found in the process of scientific knowledge formation, there are some learning characteristics affecting the students’ epistemology. According to the findings mentioned-above, some suggestions were proposed to the teachers in the elementary school as well as the researchers interested in doing further studies on this subject.