The influence of a collaborative learning environment on primary students' conceptions about acid rain

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate primary students' conceptions about acid rain formation andits consequences to people and the environment, before and after a 10 hour constructivist teaching intervention. Seven primary schools, involving 11 experimental classes and eight traditional groups, participated in thisprogramme. A written questionnaire was administered and answered by 128 students (aged 11 – 12) of the experimental groups and 101 students (aged 11 – 12) of the traditional classes. Prior to the intervention, themajority of students believed that when air pollutants go into the atmosphere they cause physical but not chemical phenomena. After the intervention, the students of the experimental classes improved their conceptionsand they now realised that not only physical but also chemical phenomena could take place in the air (acidrain). They also seem to have understood that acid rain can appear everywhere, not only in the cities, as wellas understanding the consequences of acid rain to humans and the environment. On the contrary, the traditional group of students' initial ideas resisted teaching and did not improve to more scientific ones.

Keywords:

• Primary students' conceptions
• Acid rain
• Chemical interactions
• Collaborative learning
• Social con-structivism