Exploring Minds: Alternative Conceptions in Science

Abstract

This exploratory study has focused on two major dimensions students’ conceptions and teachers’ conceptions. First part explored alternate conceptions that are possibly present in the area of Newtonian Mechanics among a group of first year Master of Science (M.Sc.) students majoring in Physics. The plausible conclusion from the study strongly point towards presence of misconceptions amongst students. Second part explored whether university teachers are cognizant of students’ alternate conceptions and if so, what kind of techniques do they suggest or employ to attend to them. The data collected through interviews did not show any evidence of teachers’ awareness about students’ alternate conceptions. The major conclusions derived from the present study strongly substantiate the fundamental need for teachers to understand the mental world of their learners and shift to ‘student centered’ classroom processes as against commonly practiced ‘teacher centered’ ones.