Alternative Conceptions Research Articles

THE IMPACT OF THE PREDICTION-OBSERVATION-EXPLANATION MODEL ON PRESCHOOLERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF GEAR CONCEPTS THROUGH BLOCK PLAY

The complexity of gear concepts, often misunderstood by young children, highlights the need for educational frameworks beyond simple play. To examine the effects of using the prediction, observation, and explanation (POE) model in building block activities, a true experimental design was implemented. A total of 49 preschoolers were randomly assigned to either an experimental group, which engaged with building blocks embedded with the POE model, or a control group, which followed a building instruction guide. Data were gathered through pretests, posttests, and two-week delayed tests administered to all participants. The theoretical framework for this study was based on the POE model, emphasizing the importance of prediction, observation, and explanation in the learning process. The results revealed that the POE model had positive impacts on fostering young children’s acquisition of gear concepts. Specifically, gear speed and gear direction were identified as the most challenging concepts for preschoolers to grasp. The results highlight the critical role of children's reflection in learning these concepts. The participants’ common naive conceptions about gear function, gear speed, and gear direction were identified. The implications of these results highlight the importance of incorporating reflective practices in early childhood education to enhance concept acquisition and address misconceptions. Keywords: science education, gear concepts, building blocks, alternative conceptions, early childhood education

Inquiring Students’ Alternative Conceptions about Floating and Sinking Objects

Inquiring Students’ Alternative Conceptions about Floating and Sinking Objects

An Introduction to Global Englishes

The rationale for the recently established JALT Global Englishes SIG may be unclear and require explanation. To that end, some key relevant areas of debate are introduced that indicate the relevance and importance of the SIG’s interests to teaching: English as a Native Language; English as a Foreign Language; World Englishes; Standard English; English as a (Multi) Lingua Franca; and Teaching English as an International Language. These introductions are provided to show how and why there has been a shift away from English as a Native Language and Standard English towards alternative conceptions of English. Lastly, some of the implications of these debates for teaching are introduced.

Beyond the blinders: Disclosing the episteme of land ownership to re-frame legal and economic values in planning

Among the values conceptualising and measuring planning processes and outcomes, two play a prominent role in liberal democracies: legal and economic. Current conceptions and practices framing these values face substantial challenges: civil law systems do not account for the variety of land use situations, increases in wealth inequalities, and human activities which threaten planetary boundaries. A way to tackle these challenges is to analyse the current theoretical discourse and legal norms framing values in planning, study alternative conceptions, and outline new responses. The present article investigates how a paradigm shift in planning theory may open new avenues for conceptualising legal and economic values. To do so, it first compares the episteme of land ownership defined by two theories applied to planning: law-and-economics and land master theory. Second, drawing upon the comparison, the article discusses how the strengths of each theory may contribute to filling the gaps of the others. Identified gaps are: the integration of political aspects into the analysis, the conceptualization of collective and use-specific forms of ownership, and methodological issues. These gaps mirror the western legal conception of land ownership, defined as individual and absolute. Fourth, based on collective and use-specific land management practices that develop within the western legal framework, and theoretical inputs from land master theory, the article puts forward a transduction of legal norms that foster a more sustainable conception of land ownership, known as land stewardship.

“To Change the World, We Must First Change the Way the Babies Are Being Born”: Childbirth Activism in Europe

(1) Background: “To change the world, we must first change the way the babies are being born”, said Michel Odent, the famous French obstetrician and pioneer of the “natural birth” movement. This quotable phrase has been widespread in activism campaigns, and it refers to a project for social change that goes beyond birth. Conceiving childbirth in the broader social context, it is not surprising that this emblematic quote inspires emancipatory struggles around birth. This paper results from a study of childbirth activism in different European contexts, where the author explores the emergence and modes of action of social movements advocating for the humanization of childbirth and women’s rights in pregnancy and childbirth. (2) Methods: Starting from the analysis of the main characteristics of childbirth activism, in this paper the author briefly analyzes the cases of organizations from Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as a campaign promoted by the European Network of Childbirth Associations (ENCA). The author mobilizes empirical data resulting from a triangulation approach, essentially based on documentary analysis, complemented by conversations and participant observation in different settings. (3) Results: Preliminary results show how childbirth activism is contributing to the construction of alternative conceptions of birth, challenging established paradigms. (4) Conclusion: In its differences and similarities, childbirth activism assumes distinct features, but it also has the ability to adapt and promote changes, depending on the specificities of the contexts where it operates.

Effect of Structured Inquiry Powered by Web 2.0 Technologies on Conceptual Understanding: Light Concept

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the structured inquiry powered by Web 2.0 technologies on remedying sixth-grade students’ alternative conceptions of “light” and improving their conceptual understanding. The sample of the study consisted of 16 sixth-grade students enrolled to a science course at a public secondary school. Since the study evaluated student gains in conceptual understanding by means of pretest and posttest scores, the study employed a single group pretest-posttest research design, with a conceptual understanding test (CUT) and semi-structured interviews employed as the data collection tools. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using IBM’s SPSS 15 statistical software, whilst the qualitative data was analyzed by way of content analysis. The analytical results showed that the structured inquiry powered by Web 2.0 technologies positively impacted the students' conceptual understanding of light, as evidenced by their ability to differentiate between different types of reflection and provide coherent explanations for light-related phenomena.

Imagining ecopolis: Visions of ecofeminist political theology and ecocriticism in Latin America

Although often overlooked by mainstream accounts of political theology and ecocriticism in the Global North, powerful visions of an ecopolis have been emerging in Latin America. In this article, we review the status of mainstream approaches to notions such as subject, citizen, and personal dignity and put them in a critical dialogue with Latin American Ecofeminist Political Theologies (LAEPT). We argue that those notions, often conceived from a Western and anthropocentric perspective, show their limits when interrogated from the perspective of LAEPT. Accordingly, we suggest that their main contribution lies not only in their critique of the Western paradigm but also in advancing alternative conceptions of an ecologically conscious political community that considers the Earth as sacred, and nature as a reflection of the divine. We conclude that such conceptions can also be seen at work in the rights of nature enshrined in the so-called new Latin American Constitutionalism.

Exploring AI Applications for Addressing Alternative Conceptions in Teaching Physics: Focus on Electrical Circuits at the Secondary Level

This article introduces our initial foray into a comprehensive, long-term study on the learning practices of high school students using chatbots as educational tools. In this section, we explore the correlation between the logic underlying the responses generated by two chatbots for problems related to electrical circuits and the well-known alternative conceptions prevalent in the field of science education. To achieve this, we employed a methodology involving the presentation of ten questions to the chatbots, followed by an analysis of their answers in conjunction with established knowledge in physics and the Theory of Conceptual Fields. The objective was to bridge the gap between AI-generated responses and human responses. Our primary findings reveal a close resemblance between these two groups. This initial endeavor lays the foundation for developing an investigative methodology that will facilitate a comprehensive understanding and categorization of the various forms of interaction between students and chatbots.

“We are the Revolution, Abroad”: Diaspora Protests, Identity Construction, and the Remaking of Citizenship in the 2019 Lebanese Thawra

Abstract Diasporas are often viewed as mirrors for their homeland’s politics. The Lebanese diaspora’s involvement in the 2019 Thawra, however, established the diaspora as a locus for autonomous and disruptive political action. Through an analysis of the spatialities of protest, this paper analyses the diaspora’s involvement in the Thawra, its implications for the protest movement, and for the diaspora itself. It argues that diaspora protests gave rise to new tactics and protest repertoires. These mirrored protest activity on the ground, supported protestors in Lebanon, and constituted the diaspora as a locus for contestation and claims-making. Moreover, the diaspora’s mobilization in the Thawra contributed to the consolidation of diasporic identity and the construction of alternative societal imaginaries and conceptions of citizenship that challenge Lebanon’s state-centric and sectarian citizenship regime. This paper thus makes the case for reassessing the autonomous political role of diasporas to gain a fuller understanding of transnational protest dynamics, solidarities, and citizenship beyond the boundaries of the nation-state.

Theism and the Future of Philosophy of Religion: Three Questions

Three interconnected issues are addressed: whether philosophy of religion needs to move away from theism; what could replace it; and how nontheistic conceptions of the divine should be incorporated in the field’s future discussions. Among the central points made are these: that attention to theism should diminish as a large number of nontheistic topics receive discussion in the philosophy of religion; that theism’s dominance in the structuring of our discussions should be replaced by a more deliberate focus on the aims of philosophy of religion, including in particular certain higher-level aims involving the resolution of problems in other areas of philosophy and the evaluation of religious practice; and that some of the most potentially fruitful ideas of the divine are not alternative conceptions of it per se, but rather are quite general ideas offering a framework for the discussion of alternative conceptions including theism.

Imagined Buddhisms and the Limits of Female Liberation in Qurratulain Hyder’s River of Fire

This study considers how Urdu Indian writer, Qurratulain Hyder historicizes the role of Buddhism in her magnum opus, River of Fire. Previous studies have approached the question of religion in River of Fire in relation to the radical nationalisms of Hinduism and Islam. Meanwhile, Buddhism—a religious philosophy often perceived as innocuous in the polemics of Partition—has received only a passing nod. This study demonstrates that Hyder’s imagination of Buddhism from the perspective of female domesticity, unravels a more complicated religious and literary legacy than what was generally understood among her contemporary intelligentsia. In the opening chapters of the novel, Hyder draws on classical Buddhist literatures such as the Therīgāthā, to challenge romanticized imaginations of Buddhism. This article teases out this intertextuality between the novel and the Buddhist canon as a moment that foregrounds the implications of liberation for generations of women silenced by hegemonic religious and national histories. Drawing on Saba Mahmood’s Politics of Piety, I argue that Hyder explores alternative conceptions of feminine self-realization and liberation which interrogate not only traditional monastic notions of freedom and liberation but also feminist and Buddhist discourses of equality in the nation.

From cookbook lab to PEODE-based lab: redesigning lab activities to foster conceptual understanding

ABSTRACT Background Of many innovative laboratory approaches in the literature, POE (Predict-Explain-Observe) and PDEODE (Predict-Discuss-Explain-Observe-Discuss-Explain) based laboratories approach have been frequently used to enhance laboratory studies during the last ten years. We contend that excluding the discussion phase before the observation stage in PDEODE could be more suitable when applied to science laboratory settings. Consequently, we chose to employ the PEODE (Predict-Explain-Observe-Discuss-Explain) approach in lieu of PDEODE to enhance laboratory-based studies. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate effectiveness of PEODE-based laboratory activities in promoting prospective science teachers’ (PSTs) conceptual understanding about fundamental concepts. Sample The quasi-experimental study is based on 46 third grade PSTs in the primary science education department. In the study, randomly selected two groups were used, one experimental group (EG; n = 22) and one control group (CG; n = 24). Design and methods To achieve this aim, we selected fundamental science concepts that students have difficulty in sound understanding and often hold alternative conceptions based on the literature. While the CG participated in traditional laboratory activities, the EG took part in PEODE-based laboratory activities. Laboratory activities were carried out in both groups for a total of 18 hours. In order to assess PSTs’ conceptual understanding about fundamental concepts, a concept test (CT) including 22 test items (two-tiers and open-ended) were presented to them as pre- and post-test. The PSTs’ pre- and post-CT scores was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Results The study overall demonstrated that PEODE based laboratory activities have a significant impact on enhancing PSTs’ conceptual understanding of the fundamental science concepts. Conclusion The PEODE based laboratory employed in this study, introduced as a novel contribution to the literature, demonstrates its potential to facilitate conceptual change.

Navigating the complexities of student understanding: Exploring the coherency of students' conceptions about the greenhouse effect

AbstractThe greenhouse effect is a complex scientific phenomenon that plays a crucial role in understanding climate change. Grasping students' understanding of this phenomenon on the content‐specific level but also how students' conceptions are organized is vital for effective climate change education. This study addresses both levels and delves into the relationship between students' frameworks and knowledge pieces of the greenhouse effect through the analysis of multiple‐choice questions, employing Bayesian correlations and multiple logistic regression. We thereby focus on specific types of conceptualizations of the greenhouse effect that have been identified in previous research and furthermore investigate the coherency of them. To do so, we analyzed answers of N = 604 grade 11 students in Austria and Germany and interpreted them from different theoretical perspectives. The findings showed that students hold various ideas about the greenhouse effect that are only seldom coherent, in particular when it comes to adequate ideas about the greenhouse effect. However, especially for a reflection‐based framework of the greenhouse effect, our results demonstrate that students' conceptions show some form of coherency. We argue that our results can inform the development of effective teaching strategies that address students' existing knowledge and alternative conceptions. In terms of practical implications, the findings suggest that teaching strategies should provide opportunities for students to integrate their knowledge pieces into a more coherent understanding of the greenhouse effect. The study highlights the need for further investigation into the relationship between knowledge pieces and frameworks not only for the greenhouse effect, but for science education in general.

The concept of pH and its logarithmic scale: A Micro Bit experience through inquiry, modeling, and computational thinking

The present work describes an educational experience carried out in a secondary school in Spain, where the case of Tinto River is presented as a learning scenario to understand the concept of pH and its logarithmic scale. Through the use and programming of controller boards (Micro Bit) and sensors, this study aims to address the underlying level of abstraction and alternative conceptions related to these topics. The intention is to provide practical examples for the development of a teaching-learning sequence based on inquiry, modeling, and computational thinking. This sequence addresses a current socio-scientific issue, while also considering students’ comments, and considering the Spanish digital competence model. The analysis includes an evaluation of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The results indicate that the sequence can be highly motivating in understanding the concepts presented and in acquiring digital competencies. However, it also reveals limitations in terms of time required and the complexity of its design.

Drawing Reflections

As part of a larger effort to explore the multiform relations between philosophy and literature—a research field that attracts growing attention— we focus on the philosophical aspects of literature. Our project tackles the subject of literature’s potential to generate knowledge. In our paper we intend to dwell on self-referential literature. This intriguing dimension of literary expression is associated with works in which self-reflective moves can be traced, that is, texts in which literary writing refers to and reflects on literature itself. The self-reflection of self-referential literature assumes many shapes, affecting in various ways the constitution of both content and form. Thus, our aim becomes twofold. First, we look into variants of literary self-reflection, while pondering the philosophical implications of each of those. Here, we are going to draw on examples from the writings of Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Valéry, Maurice Blanchot and Clarice Lispector. Second, we propose to consider the necessary conditions and the prospects for obtaining some kind of knowledge by means of self-referential literature. In so doing, we examine alternative conceptions and kinds of knowledge which could be taken into account.

Capital sharing and socialization in an interprofessional student-led clinic: a Bourdieuan analysis.

Interprofessional student-led clinics offer authentic clinical experiences of collaborative patient care. However, theoretical research on the sustainability of these clinics, considering forms of capital beyond the economic, remains limited. This study addresses this gap by employing Bourdieu's theoretical framework to explore how alternative conceptions of capital; both social and cultural might sustain conditions for interprofessional working in a student-led clinic serving patients living with a chronic neurological impairment. The teaching and learning focussed clinic was established in 2018 to mirror a clinical service. Semi-structured focus groups with participants involving 20 students from 5 professions and 11 patients gathered in-depth insights into their experiences within the clinic. A thematic analysis was guided by Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus, and capital. In the complex landscape of the student-led clinic, at the intersection of a patient support group, a hospital-based aged care facility, and university-based healthcare professions, three pivotal mechanisms emerged underpinning its sustainability: Fostering students' disposition to interprofessional care, Capitalizing on collaboration and patient empowerment, and a Culture of mutual exchange of capital. These themes illustrate how students and patients specific dispositions towards interprofessional healthcare enriched their habitus by focusing on shared patient well-being goals. Diverse forms of capital exchanged by students and patients fostered trust, respect, and mutual empowerment, enhancing the clinic experience. This study bridges an important gap in theoretically informed explorations of the conditions for sustaining student-led clinics, drawing on Bourdieu's theory. It accentuates the significance of investment of diverse forms of capital in such clinics beyond the economic, whilst emphasizing a primary commitment to advancing interprofessional healthcare expertise. Recognizing patients as equal partners shapes clinic dynamics. In order for student clinics to thrive in a sustainable fashion, educators must shift their focus beyond solely maximizing financial resources. Instead, they should champion investments in a wider range of capital forms. This requires active participation from all stakeholders; faculties, patient partners, service providers, and students. These findings underscore the importance of investing in interprofessional learning by optimizing various forms of capital, and embracing patients as dynamic contributors to the clinic's sustainability.

Development of DIGaKiT: identifying students’ alternative conceptions by Rasch analysis model

Alternative conceptions become obstacles in physics. However, it is difficult to find instruments that can identify students' alternative conceptions, especially in gases kinetic theory (DIGaKiT). The purpose of this research was to development of diagnostic instrument of DIGaKiT in identifying students’ alternative conceptions by Rasch analysis model. The research method used the defining, designing, developing, and disseminating (4D). The samples are 31 students (12 male students and 19 female students, their ages were typically 16 years old) at one of the senior high schools at Belitung. Rasch analysis was used to identify the validity, reliability, and distribution of students' alternative conceptions. The result is that the level of validity and reliability of the instrument is in a good category. Meanwhile, alternative conceptions of the kinetic theory of gases can be identified in all questions, and the questions with the highest alternative conceptions are questions with code Q11 (77%) and the lowest are questions with codes Q1, Q5, and Q6 (4%). Therefore, teachers must design learning processes that can reduce students’ alternative conceptions of the kinetic theory of gases material.

Between Headlines and Punchlines: Journalistic Role Performance in Western News Satire

ABSTRACT News satire has proliferated worldwide and has emerged as a valid site for public discourse. What we see today is a spectrum of news satire formats ranging from the predominantly absurd and comedic to more overtly journalistic satirical deconstructions of current affairs. This maturation of news satire as an alternative form of journalism thus underlines the necessity for further research into the journalistic roles that certain news satire formats carry out. This study assesses the journalistic roles in three international news satire formats i.e., the United States’ Last Week Tonight, the Swedish Svenska Nyheter, and the Dutch Zondag met Lubach and presents the findings of a content analysis of 150 satirical segments having aired from October 2020 to April 2023. We conclude that Western news satire displays a fairly united execution of journalistic role performances with high scores for the Advocate, Watchdog and Civic Educator roles, yet low scores for Reporter and Loyalist roles. Furthermore, we present the Comedic Interlocutor role, and discuss its place in alternative conceptions of professional journalism today. This study empirically validates that humor and entertainment are not irreconcilable with a factual, civically engaged, critical kind of journalistic coverage.

Exploring Tanzanian Pre-service Science Teachers’ Understanding of the Notion of Knowledge About Alternative Conceptions

This study investigated the extent to which the notion of knowledge about alternative conceptions is featured in the curriculum for pedagogy courses of a pre-service science teacher programme and explored pre-service students’ understanding of the notion having completed the pedagogy courses. This was achieved by analysing three curricula, one each for physics, biology and chemistry pedagogy courses and by interviewing 29 pre-service teachers from one university in Tanzania. The study was guided by a framework of five aspects of the notion of knowledge about alternative conceptions, which were adapted from Gomez-Zwiep. These are the definition of alternative conceptions, their nature and origins, examples of alternative conceptions in science, their impacts, and instructional strategies to address alternative conceptions. The results indicated that the notion of knowledge about alternative conceptions is generally not featured in pedagogy courses. Further, although most of the pre-service teachers could identify the impacts of alternative conceptions on students’ learning, they had a limited understanding of the notion. Thus, the study recommends that pedagogy courses should emphasise explicit instruction of the notion of knowledge about alternative conceptions. Further, pre-service teachers should be exposed to the debate about how to approach good instruction in relation to alternative conceptions.

Development of the Bipolar Junction Transistor Diagnostic Test (BJTDT) to explore the second-year undergraduate Myanmar electronic and Thai electrical engineering students’ understanding of BJT working principles and applications

ABSTRACT A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and its operation are fundamental concepts for the understanding of power electronics (industrial electronics), transistor-transistor logic (TTL), electronic switching, and signal amplification in modern electronics. Previous research showed that non-major engineering, computer, electronic, and electrical engineering students could not understand the basic concepts involved in a BJT. This paper describes the development of a two-tier diagnostic test, the test’s administration, limitations, the participants’ detailed context, and findings from a study that explores Myanmar and Thai second-year undergraduate students’ understanding of BJT working principles and applications. The results revealed that many students in both countries had the same alternative conceptions about collector current in each operation mode of the BJT. Some alternative conceptions differ from the previous research, such as a) the collector current does not depend on the base current in cut-off mode, and b) changing the collector current does not depend on the base current in active mode, but it depends on the collector supply voltage. These research findings provide valuable information and instruments for teachers to insight, prevent, and correct the alternative conceptions proposed by students.