Exploring k5 students’ learning pathways regarding water’s electrical conductivity

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background The educational research in the contemporary literature on the phenomenon of electrical conductivity of liquids is mainly linked to students in secondary and tertiary education and has shown that these students tend to ascribe liquids’ electrical conductivity to the presence of free electrons in them. Purpose The main purpose of this pilot study was to capture the learning pathways of k5 students, while teaching that the electrical conductivity of tap water is due to the presence of dissolved salts in it. Sample 24 students, from a k5 class in a Greek primary school, took part in the project. Design and methods A teaching intervention was designed and implemented to capture the students’ learning pathways during the teaching of the given phenomenon. The data was drawn from: a) an analysis of the video recordings of the conversations which took place during the implementation of the intervention, b) students’ written responses to pre- and post-tests. Results Initially, almost all the students considered tap water to be an insulator. The students’ prior knowledge about the electrical conductivity of metals, and their understanding of the nature of water as a material, were found to cause significant conceptual difficulties on their way to the intended conclusion. By the final step of the intervention, almost three quarters of students attributed the electrical conductivity of tap water to the solute salts it contains. Conclusion This study indicates that k5 students can attribute the electrical conductivity of tap water to the presence of dissolved salts in it. The conceptual obstacles the students seemed to encounter on their way to the desired conclusion were dealt with satisfactorily through the implementation of the teaching intervention. However, the teaching of elements of the microcosm seems to be prerequisites for the understanding the phenomenon in question, at this education level.