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This study describes the alternative conceptions of changes of the physical state in water held by a group of adult students and discusses the evolution of these concepts within the dynamics of a classroom situation, starting from simple experiments using group work and some intervention by a teacher researcher. The students were enrolled in a reading and writing course at an adult evening school from a deprived area (slum) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The article analyses and discusses some characteristics of the students’ conceptions, some results of the teacher researcher intervention, the confrontation of interpretations that followed and the final discussion between students.
∗ This work was partially supported by FINEP e CNPq (Brazil). A preliminary report on this work was presented at the First International Congress on Research in Science and Mathematics Education held in 1985 in Barcelona, Spain. ‡ Estimates vary from 20% to 50% according to the strictness of the definition. § Previous work (Dibar Ure and Colinvaux 1985), aimed at understanding adults’ reasoning, used individual interviews, and has shown that they become inhibited by such a technique.
Notes
∗ This work was partially supported by FINEP e CNPq (Brazil). A preliminary report on this work was presented at the First International Congress on Research in Science and Mathematics Education held in 1985 in Barcelona, Spain. ‡ Estimates vary from 20% to 50% according to the strictness of the definition. § Previous work (Dibar Ure and Colinvaux 1985), aimed at understanding adults’ reasoning, used individual interviews, and has shown that they become inhibited by such a technique.