Learners' ideas about measurements

Date
2008
Authors
Khan, Safura
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Abstract
This study investigated understanding of measurements by students in scientific activities that are experimentally based. The study focused on grade 12 high school learners in an urban South African School. The majority of these students were second language English speakers. Data were obtained through a written questionnaire given to students, to explore learners’ ideas about data collection, data processing and data comparison, in particular the need to repeat measurements and the implication of the scatter associated with numerical and graphical data. An alphanumeric coding scheme adapted from Lubben et al. (2000), was used as an analysis tool. This included categorising responses into point or set paradigms. The findings of this limited study maybe summed up as follows: There is some consistency in reasoning across the experimental phases of data collection and data processing but it was noted that there is little use of set reasoning. It seems that students had specific difficulties in understanding the role and value of statistical tools in assessing confidence in measurement. By and large the learners in this study did not appreciate the need for error analysis. The overall study suggests that though the correct procedures are followed students have little or no understanding of the factors taken into account during data analysis. The findings show that very few students are true set reasoners; 75% of the students chose to take an average because that is the way it was always done. Students’ views may have been influenced by either exposure to ‘cook book’ laboratory sessions or by the context of the questionnaire which asks for three repeats. The study also shows that students had specific difficulty in understanding the role and value of statistical tools in assessing confidence in measurement (Mc Dermott & Redish, 1999). In conclusion though analysis shows a large percentage of students appear to be point reasoners, they may appear at first sight to be set reasoners. The term average was used by students yet a recurring value was chosen. There is therefore a need to perform experiments in a meaningful context and move away from ‘cook book’ laboratories to appropriate non-traditional laboratory activities, so as to enhance higher order thinking.
Description
A research report submitted by Safura Khan in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Science Education, Faculty of Science. University of the Witwatersrand, School of Physics, September 2008.
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Citation
Khan, Safura (2008) Learners' ideas about measurements, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/7051>
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