Changing 8-9 Year-Old Pupil’s Mental Representations of Light: A Metaphor Based Teaching Approach

Abstract

This research paper examines the role that teaching mediation plays in the destabilization and reconstruction of representations of the concept of light among primary education students. It investigates their comprehension of light as an entity that is transferred autonomously of the light source and the receiver. This problem has been studied with two groups of 8-9 year-old children. The experimental group (E.G) participated in a teaching process that aimed to lead pupils to the construction of a model compatible to the scientific own; the control group (C.G) followed traditional teaching methods. In all experimental situations studied the difference between pre-test and post-tests was significant for the subjects of the experimental group both at the level of explaining the light as independent entity and at the level of the stability of cognitive acquisitions.