Being constructive: an alternative approach to the teaching of the energy concept‐part two

Abstract

In the first part of this study (Trumper 1990), Israeli high school pupils’ ideas about energy were identified. Based on the findings obtained, an instructional strategy which dealt with one of the most pervasive frameworks held by pupils, the anthropocentric framework wherein energy is associated mainly with human beings, was developed and implemented. The second part of the study, presented in this article, deals with a process of conceptual change as pupils move from two other common alternative frameworks, the ‘cause’ and the ‘product’ frameworks, to the scientific view. This was done by pupil/teacher dialogue in small groups, in which pupils built by themselves the accepted scientific concept, through generalization. The outcomes of this study strengthen the constructivist assumption that teaching which takes into account the pupils’ prior knowledge yields better results than conventional teaching..