The relationship between students' views about knowing and learning physics and their understanding of physics

النوع : Mémoire

The interplay between students' epistemological beliefs about science, their lea rning strategies, and their achievement in science is a subject that has always interested researchers. This study focused on physics because physics has alway s been considered one of the most difficult and least preferred subject areas for stude nts. It examined the relationship between students' beliefs about knowing and le arning physics and their understanding of physics. The effects of gender and lan guage of instruction on these beliefs were also examined. Two questionnaires wer e distributed to students of Grade 11 in eleven schools in Beirut. The first was the Views about Science Survey (VASS); this questionnaire assessed students' views about knowing physics along three scientific dimensions and about learning physics along three other dimensi ons. The scientific dimensions included the structure of science, its methodolog y, and its validity. The cognitive dimensions included learnability, reflective thinking, and persona l relevance of science. The second questionnaire was the Inventory of Basic Mech anics (IBM); this questionnaire assessed students' conceptual understanding of m echanics. Results indicated that the majority of students held mixed views about knowing a nd learning physics. Neither gender nor language of instruction seemed to intera ct with these beliefs. Moreover, beliefs about knowing physics seemed to be sign ificantly correlated with learning strategies and physics achievement. Results o f this research might help improve the teaching- learning process and consequent ly improve students' achievement in physics.