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Svenska gymnasieelevers uppfattningar om storlek och avstånd i universum

Nilsson, Karolin LU (2023) ÄFYM02 20231
Department of Physics
Department of Educational Sciences
Abstract
This study aims to investigate how students in Swedish upper secondary school conceptualize sizes and distances of some astronomical objects, such as planets and stars, as well as the students’ general knowledge of the objects themselves. The study uses a constructivist framework and explores how well the students’ conceptions match the scientific facts and definitions, and what misconceptions and alternative conceptions they hold.

96 students have answered a questionnaire adapted and translated into Swedish from the
Introductory Astronomy Questionnaire (IAQ), created at the University of Cape Town
and used in several previous studies. The questions include ranking questions, where
the respondents rank objects according to size or... (More)
This study aims to investigate how students in Swedish upper secondary school conceptualize sizes and distances of some astronomical objects, such as planets and stars, as well as the students’ general knowledge of the objects themselves. The study uses a constructivist framework and explores how well the students’ conceptions match the scientific facts and definitions, and what misconceptions and alternative conceptions they hold.

96 students have answered a questionnaire adapted and translated into Swedish from the
Introductory Astronomy Questionnaire (IAQ), created at the University of Cape Town
and used in several previous studies. The questions include ranking questions, where
the respondents rank objects according to size or distance from the Earth’s surface, as
well as free text questions about the definitions of astronomical objects. In addition to this, interviews with three respondents who showed different levels of knowledge in the questionnaire have been conducted.

The essential findings of this study regarding common misconceptions and alternative
conceptions is in line with previous studies on the subject, but some additional details
appear in the text analysis and the interview material. This includes evidence pointing
to that students are ranking the ozone layer as further away from the surface of the Earth because of a misconception about the atmosphere’s height, and some cases where clich´e phrases stand in for genuine understanding in the repondents. One factor contibuting to causing these effects may be found in Swedish course materials and
syllabi.

Some problems with the IAQ and the methods for analysing the data in previous study are discussed. One previous study includes an attempt to quantitatively evealuate the respondents free text definitions of objects, so that comparisons can be made between studies. Due to somewhat unclear criteria and a lack of examples of the practical application of the method, the reliability of the comparsions between this study and the previous ones is questionable.

The interview data indicates that the questionnaire fails to pick up on some of the
knowledge that the respondents possess. In the questionnaire, very few respondents
mention shape in their definitions of the object galaxy. However, all three of the interviewed students, when asked to draw a galaxy, drew a picture of a classical spiral
galaxy.

From the questions and insights that arose during this work, further studies might
explore how Swedish course materials handle astronomy investigating some possible
cases of metaphors or simplified illustrations used in ways that may strengthen or
create misconceptions, rather than of counteracting them.

Due to time constraints, only three interviews were conducted. Further research could carry out more interviews, using a strengthened and expanded interview guide. This could give further insights into the nature of the misconceptions and shed more light on how well the questionnaire is able to accurately reflect the respondents actual knowledge levels. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Hur uppfattar svenska elever, från grundskolan till gymnasiet, storlek och skala i rymden? Det ska projektet Storlek och skala, som drivs vid Nationellt Resurscentrum för fysik (NRCF) vid Lunds universitet. Sedan 2020 har data samlats in via en webbenkät som getts ut till lärare och deras elever runt om i Sverige.

Studier om elevers uppfattningar om rymden är ett stort område i internationell forskning om astronomiundervisning. På senare tid har betydelsen av att undersöka just uppfattningar om skala och avstånd betonats. Sådan forskning har innan projektet Storlek och skala inte genomförts i Sverige, på svenska elever.

Som mitt examensarbete för att bli gymnasielärare i fysik och matematik har jag fått
ta del av och analysera den... (More)
Hur uppfattar svenska elever, från grundskolan till gymnasiet, storlek och skala i rymden? Det ska projektet Storlek och skala, som drivs vid Nationellt Resurscentrum för fysik (NRCF) vid Lunds universitet. Sedan 2020 har data samlats in via en webbenkät som getts ut till lärare och deras elever runt om i Sverige.

Studier om elevers uppfattningar om rymden är ett stort område i internationell forskning om astronomiundervisning. På senare tid har betydelsen av att undersöka just uppfattningar om skala och avstånd betonats. Sådan forskning har innan projektet Storlek och skala inte genomförts i Sverige, på svenska elever.

Som mitt examensarbete för att bli gymnasielärare i fysik och matematik har jag fått
ta del av och analysera den data från projektet Storlek och skala som utgörs av svar från gymnasieelever. Förutom data från enkäten genomförde jag även 3 intervjuer med 3 elever som svarat på enkäten och visat på varierande grad av kunskap. Inom forskning om undervisning av astronomi används ofta begreppen missuppfattningar och vardagsföreställningar, när elevernas egna uppfattningar om astronomiska fenomen och objekt undersöks.

Några av de missuppfattningar som jag har funnit i min studie har varit:
• Stjärnor (däribland solen) avger energi för att gas vid stjärnans yta brinner. Det
stämmer inte! Förbränning hade inte kunnat upprätthålla de ofantliga mängder energi solen avgett under de 4,6 miljarder år den har funnits. Dessutom består stjärnor inte av en kombination av ämnen som hade kunnat förbrännas vid de förhållande som råder vid
solens yta. Den vetenskapliga förklaringen är istället att energi avges genom en process
som kallas fusion (där lätta ämnen slås samman till tyngre och att en del materia omvandlas till energi) som pågår i mitten av stjärnan, på grund av det höga trycket från
stjärnans enorma gravitation.
• Solen är inte en stjärna/stjärnor är mindre än planeter. Detta är en vardagsföreställning som man tror kommer från att barn när de är små, tittar upp mot natthimlen och ser att stjärnor på natthimlen ser små ut. Det har visat sig vara en vardagsföreställning som är svår att bli av med, även när eleverna får undervisning om astronomi.
• Ozonlagret ligger längre bort från jordens yta än vad jordens centrum gör. Ozonlagret är en del av jordens atmosfär. Tvärtemot vad många tror, är jordens atmosfär väldigt tunn jämfört med jorden radie. Ozonlagret ligger ca 20-30 km ovanför jordens yta, medan
jordens radie är runt 6000 km! Varför denna missuppfattning är så vanlig vet vi inte
riktig. En hypotes jag framför i den här studien är att det beror på att bilder på jordens atmosfär, till exempel vid undervisning om klimatförändringar och växhuseffekt, oftast inte är skalenliga och visar atmosfären som jättetjock jämfört med verkligheten. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nilsson, Karolin LU
supervisor
organization
course
ÄFYM02 20231
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Astronomy, Misconceptions, Educational Research, Science Education, High School Students
language
Swedish
id
9133170
date added to LUP
2023-07-31 14:01:47
date last changed
2023-07-31 14:01:47
@misc{9133170,
  abstract     = {{This study aims to investigate how students in Swedish upper secondary school conceptualize sizes and distances of some astronomical objects, such as planets and stars, as well as the students’ general knowledge of the objects themselves. The study uses a constructivist framework and explores how well the students’ conceptions match the scientific facts and definitions, and what misconceptions and alternative conceptions they hold.

96 students have answered a questionnaire adapted and translated into Swedish from the
Introductory Astronomy Questionnaire (IAQ), created at the University of Cape Town
and used in several previous studies. The questions include ranking questions, where
the respondents rank objects according to size or distance from the Earth’s surface, as
well as free text questions about the definitions of astronomical objects. In addition to this, interviews with three respondents who showed different levels of knowledge in the questionnaire have been conducted.

The essential findings of this study regarding common misconceptions and alternative
conceptions is in line with previous studies on the subject, but some additional details
appear in the text analysis and the interview material. This includes evidence pointing
to that students are ranking the ozone layer as further away from the surface of the Earth because of a misconception about the atmosphere’s height, and some cases where clich´e phrases stand in for genuine understanding in the repondents. One factor contibuting to causing these effects may be found in Swedish course materials and
syllabi.

Some problems with the IAQ and the methods for analysing the data in previous study are discussed. One previous study includes an attempt to quantitatively evealuate the respondents free text definitions of objects, so that comparisons can be made between studies. Due to somewhat unclear criteria and a lack of examples of the practical application of the method, the reliability of the comparsions between this study and the previous ones is questionable.

The interview data indicates that the questionnaire fails to pick up on some of the
knowledge that the respondents possess. In the questionnaire, very few respondents
mention shape in their definitions of the object galaxy. However, all three of the interviewed students, when asked to draw a galaxy, drew a picture of a classical spiral
galaxy.

From the questions and insights that arose during this work, further studies might
explore how Swedish course materials handle astronomy investigating some possible
cases of metaphors or simplified illustrations used in ways that may strengthen or
create misconceptions, rather than of counteracting them.

Due to time constraints, only three interviews were conducted. Further research could carry out more interviews, using a strengthened and expanded interview guide. This could give further insights into the nature of the misconceptions and shed more light on how well the questionnaire is able to accurately reflect the respondents actual knowledge levels.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Karolin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Svenska gymnasieelevers uppfattningar om storlek och avstånd i universum}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}