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International Journal of Science Education
written by Hye-Eun Chu, David F. Treagust, Shelley Yeo, and Marjan Zadnik
The aims of this study were to determine the underlying conceptual structure of the thermal concept evaluation (TCE) questionnaire, a pencil-and-paper instrument about everyday contexts of heat, temperature, and heat transfer, to investigate students' conceptual understanding of thermal concepts in everyday contexts across several school years and to analyse the variables--school year, science subjects currently being studied, and science subjects previously studied in thermal energy--that influence students' thermal conceptual understanding. The TCE, which was administered to 515 Korean students from years 10–12, was developed in Australia, using students' alternative conceptions derived from the research literature. The conceptual structure comprised four groups--heat transfer and temperature changes, boiling, heat conductivity and  equilibrium, and freezing and melting--using 19 of the 26 items in the original questionnaire. Depending on the year group, 25–55% of students experienced difficulties in applying scientific concepts in everyday contexts. Years of schooling, science subjects currently studied and physics topics previously studied correlated with development of students' conceptual understanding, especially in topics relating to heat transfer, temperature scales, specific heat capacity, homeostasis, and thermodynamics. Although students did improve their conceptual understandings in later years of schooling, they still had difficulties in relating the scientific concepts to their experiences in everyday contexts. The study illustrates the utility of using a pencil-and-paper questionnaire to identify students' understanding of thermal concepts in everyday situations and provides a baseline for Korean students' achievement in terms of physics in everyday contexts, one of the objectives of the Korean national curriculum reforms.
International Journal of Science Education: Volume 34, Issue 10, Pages 1509-1534
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Assessment
= Conceptual Assessment
= Instruments
= Longitudinal
- Research Design & Methodology
Thermo & Stat Mech
- First Law
- Thermal Properties of Matter
= Temperature
- High School
- Reference Material
= Research study
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- Educators
- application/pdf
- text/html
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© 2012 Taylor & Francis
DOI:
10.1080/09500693.2012.657714
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created May 5, 2016 by Madeleine Wolff
Record Updated:
May 30, 2016 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
July 1, 2012
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AIP Format
H. Chu, D. Treagust, S. Yeo, and M. Zadnik, , Int. J. Sci. Educ. 34 (10), 1509 (2012), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714).
AJP/PRST-PER
H. Chu, D. Treagust, S. Yeo, and M. Zadnik, Evaluation of Students’ Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts, Int. J. Sci. Educ. 34 (10), 1509 (2012), <https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714>.
APA Format
Chu, H., Treagust, D., Yeo, S., & Zadnik, M. (2012, July 1). Evaluation of Students’ Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts. Int. J. Sci. Educ., 34(10), 1509-1534. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714
Chicago Format
Chu, H, D. Treagust, S. Yeo, and M. Zadnik. "Evaluation of Students’ Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts." Int. J. Sci. Educ. 34, no. 10, (July 1, 2012): 1509-1534, https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714 (accessed 29 March 2024).
MLA Format
Chu, Hye-Eun, David F. Treagust, Shelley Yeo, and Marjan Zadnik. "Evaluation of Students’ Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts." Int. J. Sci. Educ. 34.10 (2012): 1509-1534. 29 Mar. 2024 <https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Hye-Eun Chu and David F. Treagust and Shelley Yeo and Marjan Zadnik", Title = {Evaluation of Students’ Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts}, Journal = {Int. J. Sci. Educ.}, Volume = {34}, Number = {10}, Pages = {1509-1534}, Month = {July}, Year = {2012} }
Refer Export Format

%A Hye-Eun Chu %A David F. Treagust %A Shelley Yeo %A Marjan Zadnik %T Evaluation of Students' Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts %J Int. J. Sci. Educ. %V 34 %N 10 %D July 1, 2012 %P 1509-1534 %U https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Chu, Hye-Eun %A Treagust, David F. %A Yeo, Shelley %A Zadnik, Marjan %D July 1, 2012 %T Evaluation of Students' Understanding of Thermal Concepts in Everyday Contexts %J Int. J. Sci. Educ. %V 34 %N 10 %P 1509-1534 %8 July 1, 2012 %U https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.657714


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