ABSTRACT

In this study, the conceptions of pre-university level secondary students with respect to radiation and radioactivity were investigated. A literature review determined what was already known about secondary school students’ conceptions that differ from scientific theory, regarding radiation and radioactivity. Next, 12 Dutch students and their teachers were interviewed. Half of the already known student conceptions were confirmed in the interviews. The most persistent conception was students’ inability to distinguish between irradiation and contamination. All newly discovered conceptions, such as students’ idea that radiation can exist independently of the source of radiation, were discovered within a medical context. A remarkable finding was that students have full confidence in medical professionals, while at the same time they believe that all medical imaging techniques are dangerous. It can be concluded that curricular developments and changes in teaching contexts lead to changes in student conceptions concerning established topics. Knowledge of these conceptions and how to change them might be an important focus for teacher training, as teachers play a role in overcoming conceptions that do not correspond with prevailing scientific theories and, at the same time, may be a source of these conceptions.

摘要

在这项研究中，研究了大学预科中等学生关于辐射和放射性的概念。文献综述确定了关于辐射和放射性的中学生与科学理论不同的观念的已知知识。接下来，对12名荷兰学生及其老师进行了采访。采访中证实了一半的已知学生概念。最持久的观念是学生无法区分辐射和污染。所有新发现的概念，例如学生关于辐射可以独立于辐射源而存在的想法，都是在医学背景下发现的。一项非凡的发现是，学生对医学专业人士充满信心，同时他们认为所有医学成像技术都是危险的。可以得出结论，课程的发展和教学环境的变化会导致学生对既定主题的观念发生变化。了解这些概念以及如何更改这些概念可能是教师培训的重要重点，因为教师在克服与主流科学理论不符的概念中扮演着重要角色，同时也可能成为这些概念的来源。