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STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS OF THE PARTICULATE NATURE OF MATTER AT SECONDARY AND TERTIARY LEVEL

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Abstract

The aim of the present study is to elicit students’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter via a cross-age study ranging from secondary to tertiary educational levels. A questionnaire with five-item open-ended questions was administered to 166 students from the secondary to tertiary levels of education. In light of the findings, it can be deduced that the number of students’ responses categorized under the “sound understanding” category for each item increased with educational level, except for U1. Also, it can be concluded that students’ specific misconceptions decreased steadily from SHS1 to SHS3, except for item 4, but there is surprisingly a clear increase at U1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Fatih Faculty of Education, Karadeniz Technical University, 61335, Trabzon, Turkey

    Alipaşa Ayas

  2. Department of Science Education, Fatih Faculty of Education, Karadeniz Technical University, 61335, Trabzon, Turkey

    Muammer Çalik

  3. Department of Primary Teacher Education, Fatih Faculty of Education, Karadeniz Technical University, 61335, Trabzon, Turkey

    Haluk Özmen

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  1. Alipaşa Ayas
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  2. Haluk Özmen
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  3. Muammer Çalik
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Correspondence to Muammer Çalik.

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Ayas, A., Özmen, H. & Çalik, M. STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS OF THE PARTICULATE NATURE OF MATTER AT SECONDARY AND TERTIARY LEVEL. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 8, 165–184 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-009-9167-x

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