ABSTRACT

Plant nutrition is a complex subject at any educational level therefore, identification of student’s ideas regarding this scientific concept is important in order to define the best instructional learning method. In this study, we conduct a cross-age comparison of the conceptual understanding of compulsory students and prospective elementary teachers about plant nutrition based on their drawings and explanations. It is observed that students’ plant drawings are more accurate with age, including more plant structures involved in plant nutrition, while the presence of anthropocentric ideas in their responses decreases accordingly. However, the results show that, although knowledge about plant nutrition is acquired progressively with age through compulsory education, students do not completely understand plant nutrition-related processes, and more worryingly, this knowledge does not significantly improve from secondary to university levels. Moreover, even though the oldest students use more scientific terms in their explanations, they also nurture conceptual errors. This is cause for concern in the case of pre-service teachers, since they can transmit these misconceptions to their future elementary students. The current study reveals that plant nutrition (including photosynthesis) remains a difficult subject even at different educational stages, and that proper training imparted to elementary teachers can be crucial for a better understanding of this issue from early school years.

摘要

植物营养在任何教育水平上都是一门复杂的学科，因此，确定有关该科学概念的学生观点对于定义最佳的教学方法很重要。在这项研究中，我们对义务学生和准基础教师关于植物营养的概念理解进行了跨时代的比较，基于他们的图画和解释。可以观察到，随着年龄的增长，学生的植物图画会更加准确，包括更多与植物营养有关的植物结构，而以人为中心的思想在他们的回应中的出现会相应减少。但是，结果表明，尽管通过义务教育随着年龄的增长逐步获得了有关植物营养的知识，但学生们并没有完全理解与植物营养有关的过程，而且更令人担忧的是，从中学到大学，这些知识并没有显着提高。此外，即使年龄最大的学生在解释中使用更多的科学术语，他们也会培养概念上的错误。对于职前教师而言，这是令人担忧的，因为他们可以将这些误解传达给未来的小学学生。当前的研究表明，即使在不同的教育阶段，植物营养（包括光合作用）仍然是一个困难的课题，而对基础老师进行适当的培训对于从早期就更好地理解这一问题至关重要。他们还培养观念上的错误。对于职前教师而言，这是令人担忧的，因为他们可以将这些误解传达给未来的小学学生。当前的研究表明，即使在不同的教育阶段，植物营养（包括光合作用）仍然是一个困难的课题，而对基础老师进行适当的培训对于从学年起就更好地理解这一问题至关重要。他们还培养观念上的错误。对于职前教师而言，这是令人担忧的，因为他们可以将这些误解传达给未来的小学学生。当前的研究表明，即使在不同的教育阶段，植物营养（包括光合作用）仍然是一个困难的课题，而对基础老师进行适当的培训对于从学年起就更好地理解这一问题至关重要。