A cross-cultural survey of conceptions of energy among elementary school teachers in training * empirical results from Israel and Argentina

How do students in training to be primary school teachers in Argentina and Israel understand the concept of energy? Do they hold correct scienti"c views that will enable them to instruct their future pupils accurately? Are there fundamental di!erences between students studying in these di!erent populations? Students’ energy conceptions, expressed on a two-part written questionnaire, showed similarities and di!erences for Israeli and Argentinean students, as well as for "rst and second year students in each country. In general, there is a serious discrepancy between both Israeli and Argentinean student teachers’ understanding of energy and the accepted scienti"c concept. If this fundamental concept is to be used in a correct way in classroom, then every e!ort must be made to help teachers develop their understanding. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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