Student teacher conceptions of matter and substances – evaporation and dew formation

Abstract

It is observed that student teachers have problems with seemingly simple ideas in introductory chemistry. In order to uncover possible underlying problems, a rather comprehensive investigation on their views on matter, substances and the particulate view of matter, was accomplished.

31 students were interviewed before they started on an introductory course in chemistry. The interviews were semi-structured and linked to a sorting task and some demonstrations. All the interviews were tape-recorded and some photos were taken.

This paper reports on the students’ views on evaporation and dew formation and discusses what their statements on these phenomena tell us about their general view on matter, substances and the particulate view of matter. Their statements about evaporation and dew formation are compared.

Only 6/31 students displayed a reasonably good understanding of both evaporation and dew formation, and only two of these used a more “advanced” particulate model in their explanation of both phenomena. Most of the other students hold some sensible views and some alternative non-scientific views. All measure of understanding was revealed, from almost total ignorance to an almost complete understanding. At least 4/5 of the students seem to have some problem with the concepts of matter, substance and the particulate view of matter. These concepts, therefore, clearly need to be included and addressed in an understandable way in Norwegian teacher education.