Grade 6 Student Conceptions About Substances

Abstract

     The purpose of this study was to explore student conceptions about substances; nature of substances, state of substances, solution process and particle nature of matter using a concept test. The concept test consisted of multiple-choice questions, multiple-choice with free response questions and open-ended questions. The samples were 50 six grade students from Saraburi province in 2003 academic year. The data were analyzed by categorizing of student responses based on the students' reasoning. The result showed that most students hold alternative conceptions confirmed by the student responses which seemed to be copied from the text books. Furthermore, there were some trends of the relationship between student alternative conceptions and everyday experiences. To promote student conceptions instructors should encourage student awareness on the similarity and differences between their conceptions and scientific conceptions, and using scientific conceptions in appropriate context.