Meaningful understanding of direct proportionality and consistency across different tasks among preservice science teachers

Direct proportionality reasoning is a necessary and important skill in the study of science, especially physics, and in the process of empirical induction advocated by various modern science curricula. However, potential and serving teachers need a meaningful understanding of it first. This study has been designed to investigate the different conceptions across different tasks of direct proportionality: graphical, mathematical, data, definition and examples‐non‐examples. Two groups of preservice science teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Science Education programme formed the sample. Different patterns of conceptions were identified. Consistency across tasks was generally low. The results suggest that learning had been done in isolation. There is a need in science teacher education not only to bring about changes in conceptions among preservice and inservice teachers but also to train them to integrate ‘bits of knowledge’ from different tasks, thereby leading to more meaningful understanding.