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Understanding Middle School Students’ Difficulties in Explaining Density Differences from a Language Perspective

Authors :
Christina Hart
David Clarke
Lay Hoon Seah
Source :
International Journal of Science Education. 37:2386-2409
Publication Year :
2015
Publisher :
Informa UK Limited, 2015.

Abstract

This study examines how a class of Grade 7 students employed linguistic resources to explain density differences. Drawing from the same data-set as a previous study by, we take a language perspective to investigate the challenges students face in learning the concept of density. Our study thus complements previous research on learning about density which has mostly focussed on the conceptual challenges. The data consist of transcripts of lessons on density and students’ written assignments. Using selected analytical categories from the Systemic Functional Linguistics framework, we first examined students’ use of linguistic resources in their written reports of a practical activity. We then compared the language employed by the students with the instructional language, identifying possible links. Our analysis identified specific aspects of language that the students need to appropriate in order to express an understanding of density that aligns with a scientific perspective. The findings from this study il...

Details

ISSN :
14645289 and 09500693
Volume :
37
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
International Journal of Science Education
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........663cfbc5a4885f92ff5eed85425ba694
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1080879