This study investigated the effect of non-traditional guided inquiry instruction on middle school students' conceptual understandings of lunar concepts. Multiple data sources were used to describe participants' conceptions of lunar phases and their cause, including drawings, interviews, and a lunar shapes card sort. The data were analyzed via a constant comparative method to produce profiles of each participant's conceptual understandings and nonparametric tests also were used. Results revealed very positive performance for observable moon phases and patterns of change, as well as the cause of moon phases. Results indicated that significantly more participants shifted from drawing nonscientific shapes on the pretest to drawing scientific shapes on the post-test. Results for the drawings of moon phase sequences were similar in that significantly more participants shifted from drawing alternative waxing and waning sequences on the pretest to drawing scientific sequences on the post-test. Also, significantly more participants shifted from alternative understanding of the cause of the moon phases on the pretest to scientific understanding on the post-test. Implications of these findings and recommendations for further research are provided.

The authors provide a descriptive study of in-service elementary teachers' understanding of magnetism concepts and confidence in their understanding of those concepts before and after non-traditional instruction that utilizes instructional activities from Physics by Inquiry. Introduction Magnetism is a topic frequently studied in elementary schools (Toleman, 1998). Since magnetism is a popular topic and is included in national science education standards (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2003; National Research Council, 1996), it might be assumed that elementary teachers have a good understanding of this topic and that elementary students develop a good understanding of fundamental magnetism concepts. Unfortunately, evidence suggests that magnetism concepts are poorly understood across a broad range of potential learners (Atwood, Christopher & McNaIl, 2007; Constantinou, Raftopoulos, & Spanoudis, 2001; Finley, 1986; Hickey & Schibeci, 1999). The lack of successful teaching and learning of magnetism concepts that occurs at the elementary level may be partly due to deficiencies in elementary science textbooks (Barrow, 1990) for elementary students and elementary science methods and materials textbooks (Barrow, 2000) for teachers . However, ineffective science content courses in teacher preparation are likely to be a much larger problem (McDermott, 1991; McDermott, Heron, Shaffer, & Stetzer, 2006). There is a clearly identified need to improve instruction on magnetism, and elementary science teacher education is a logical place to focus. A study of pre-service (Atwood & Christopher, 2007) teachers has revealed a poor understanding of basic magnetism concepts, and traditional survey science courses may be doing little to improve that situation. The documentation of inadequate understanding of standards-based magnetism concepts by elementary students and teachers is an important start to understanding the nature and magnitude of this problem, but it is also necessary to address the lack of conceptual understanding of elementary teachers. Theoretical Framework The following considerations were used to identify characteristics of instruction likely to be associated with the desired impact: 1. The goal of the instruction is to facilitate teachers' construction of conceptual understanding of basic magnetism concepts. 2. Traditional instruction has failed to result in the desired understanding, so it is unsuitable for the study (McDermott, 1991; McDermott, Heron, Shaffer, & Stetzer, 2006). 3. Minimally guided, non-traditional instruction has been strongly criticized recently and is unlikely to result in the desired understanding (Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Mayer, 2004). 4. Non-traditional investigative instruction that is judiciously structured and scaffolded and consistent with the intentional conceptual change literature has shown great promise and should be utilized in the study (Beeth, 1998; Niaz, 1995; Nussbaum & Novick, 1 982; Vosniadou, 2003 , 2007). For some time, the science education community has shown considerable support for teaching for understanding (American Association for the Advancement of Science , 200 3 ; Gallagher, 2000; Gardner & BoixMansilla, 1994; National Research Council, 1996;Prawat, 1989; Wildey & Wallace, 1995). During roughly the same period, it has been well documented that diverse populations of children and adults lack a scientific understanding of many fundamental science concepts across the biological, earth, and physical sciences (Atwood & Christopher, 2007; Bar, 1989; Barman & Griffiths, 1995; Baxter, 1989; Brody & Koch, 1990; Driver, Guesne, & Tiberghien, 1985; Duit, 1984, 2004; Duit & Treagust, 1995; Krall, Christopher, & Atwood, 2009; Osborn & Cosgrove, 1983; Schoon, 1 992; Trundle ,Atwood & Christopher, 2002). The pervasive lack of conceptual understanding has been partially attributed to the failure of traditional instruction, a term that seems to be a broad umbrella for a variety of presentation modes. …

This descriptive study investigated whether elementary and middle school teachers in the Central Appalachian region were prepared to teach selected standards-based light, force and motion concepts they could reasonably be expected to teach. The study also sought to compare their preparedness for teaching these concepts. Basic light concepts and force and motion concepts are integral components of the K-8 national science education standards and frameworks. Specifically, the National Science Education Standards (NSES) (National Research Council [NRC], 1996) for grades K-4 indicate elementary students should understand and apply the concept that light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object. Students at this level should also understand that light can be reflected by a mirror, refracted by a lens, or absorbed by an object. Middle school students are expected to further this understanding of light phenomena by learning that the interaction between light and matter includes the ability to be transmitted, absorbed, reflected, and refracted. They should also understand that in order to see an object, light must be either emitted by an object or reflected by another object, and then, in both cases, the light must enter the eye (NRC, 1996). The standards statements on position and motion of objects in the NSES (NRC, 1996) indicate that elementary students should be able to describe the position of an object by relating it to another object or background. They should also understand that the position and motion of an object can be changed by pushing or pulling the object, and that the greater the push or pull, the greater the change in the object's motion, and consequently, the greater the displacement of the object from its original position. In middle school, students should be able to demonstrate more advanced knowledge and skills about force and motion, including the abilities to represent an object's motion on a graph, interpret the motion of objects by reading a graph, and recognize the effect forces have on the motion of an object (NRC, 1996). That is, they should understand that forces acting on an object along a straight line can reinforce or cancel out another force, while unbalanced forces acting on a moving object can change the direction and/or speed of the object's motion. Recommendations in the Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1994) are similar to those described in the NSES. Looking beyond standards from the United States, the targeted concepts appear to be viewed globally as fundamental to scientific literacy, which is evidenced by their inclusion in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessments (Beaton, Martine, Mullis, Gonzalez, Smith, & Kelly, 1997) Much of the research on understanding light phenomena has focused on K- 12 students (Crooks & Goldby, 1984; Feher & Rice, 1988; Fetherstonhaugh & Tre gust, 1992; Guesne, 1985; Feher, 1990; Piaget, 1974a, 1974b; Ramadas & Driver, 1989; Shapiro, 1994) and college-level students (Goldberg & McDermott, 1986; Huang & Hwang, 1992). Other studies have addressed pre-service elementary teachers' conceptions of light phenomena (Atwood, Christopher, & McNall, 2005; Bendali, Goldberg & Galili, 1993; Feher & Rice, 1987), as well as the conceptions that in-service elementary teachers (Atwood & Christopher, 2004; Greenwood & Scribner-MacLean, 1997; Association for the Education of Teachers in Science [AENTS], 2004a) and middle school science teachers (Trundle, Atwood, & Christopher, 2002) have about the topic. Collectively, these studies document many of the same conceptual difficulties that are shared by individuals across a broad spectrum of age and experience. Research on conceptual understanding of force and motion phenomena reveals comparable findings. Previous studies have explored conceptual understanding of force and motion phenomena held by middle school (Morote & Pritchard, 2002), secondary (Champagne, Klopfer, & Anderson, 1980; Gunstone, 1984; Gunstone & Watts, 1985; Minstrell, 1982; McCloskey, 1983; McDermott, 1984; Oliva, 1999, 2003; Ridgeway, 1988; Peters, 1982; Thijs, 1992; Thijs & Dekkers, 1998; Tao & Gunstone, 1999) and college-level students (da Costa & Moreira, 2005; Halloun & Hestenes, 1985; Hestenes, Wells, & Swackhamer, 1992; Trowbridge & McDermott, 1981). …

This research consists of a longitudinal study of 12 female elementary preservice teachers' conceptual understanding over the course of several months. The context in which the participants received instruction was in an inquiry-based physics course, and the targeted science content was the cause of moon phases. Qualitative research methods, including observations and interviews, were used to investigate and describe participants' conceptual understanding over time. Participants were interviewed on their understanding of the cause of moon phases before instruction, 3 weeks after instruction, and again in delayed post-interviews several months after instruction. Patterns and themes in the participants' conceptual understanding were identified through constant-comparative data analysis. Consistent with results reported earlier, participants who had instruction that included recording and analyzing moon observations over time and psychomotor modeling of changes in moon phases were very likely to hold a scientific conceptual understanding shortly after instruction. The present study indicates a majority of participants continued to hold a scientific understanding six months or more after instruction. However, some participants reverted to alternative conceptions they had shown during the pre-interview. These results are interpreted utilizing contemporary conceptual change theory. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fourth‐grade students’ knowledge of observable moon phases and patterns of change, as well as conceptual understanding of the cause of moon phases, was investigated before and after special instruction. Pretest and post‐test data for 48 students were used to address the research question related to observable moon phases and patterns of change. Interviews were conducted with 10 students on a post‐only basis to provide data on understanding the cause of moon phases. The researchers used the constant comparative method to analyse data. Pretest results indicate these students had not met the expectations expressed in the U.S. Science Education Standards for lunar concepts. Post‐test results reveal a very positive performance on observable moon phases and patterns of change, as well as the cause of moon phases. Interpretation and implications of these findings are provided.

The purpose of this study was to describe selected content knowledge held by 52 preservice elementary teachers about the observable phases of the moon and the monthly pattern of change in observable phases. Data were obtained from participants in a physics course before and after they received inquiry-based instruction designed to promote intentional learning of the cause of moon phases and the observable pattern of change in moon phases. Results indicated that, prior to instruction, most preservice teachers had major deficiencies in knowledge of observable moon phases and the pattern of monthly change in the phases. Fortunately, participants who completed the instruction were likely to show evidence of having addressed the deficiencies.

This chapter describes the interdisciplinary collaborative planning and subsequent implementation of a standards-based physical science course for preservice elementary teachers. Perspectives of a science teacher educator, elementary practitioners, and university faculty from geology, chemistry, and physics informed the work. Varied and sustained efforts to obtain formative and summative evaluation data are described. Results across several semesters were consistently positive. Conclusions and implications are suggested.

This study focused on the conceptual understandings held by 78 preservice elementary teachers about moon phases, before and after instruction. Participants in the physics groups received instruction on moon phases in an inquiry-based physics course; participants in the methods group received no instruction on moon phases. The instructive effect of two different types of preinstruction interviews also was compared. The instruction on moon phases used in the study is from Physics by Inquiry by Lillian McDermott. In the study, the method of inquiry followed a qualitative design, involving classroom observations, document analysis, and structured interviews. Inductive data analysis identified patterns and themes in the participants' conceptual understanding. Results indicate that without the instruction, most preservice teachers were likely to hold alternative conceptions on the cause of moon phases. Participants who had the instruction were much more likely to hold a scientific understanding after instruction. The instruction appears to be more effective in promoting a scientific understanding of moon phases than instruction previously reported in the literature. It also appears that using a three-dimensional model or making two-dimensional drawings during the preinstruction interviews does not have instructive value. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals Inc.