Abstract

FERNANDEZ NISTAL, María Teresa  and  PENA BOONE, Sergio Humberto. Elementary School Teachers' Conceptions of the Planet Earth and Gravity: Implications for Science Education. REDIE [online]. 2008, vol.10, n.2, pp.1-25. ISSN 1607-4041.

This study examines 80 elementary school teachers' conceptions of the Planet Earth's shape and the reference system determined by gravity. The information was collected through a semi-structured interview. A qualitative analysis of the answers identified four conceptions: a) The planet earth has an undefined shape; b) the planet earth is spherical in shape, in the interior of which the people live; c) the earth is spherical and the people live around the spherical surface oriented in an absolute system of reference, and d) scientific conception. The teachers' frequency distribution in diverse conceptions showed that almost half of the teachers (49%) held alternative conceptions, the rest of the teachers maintained the scientific conception. The results offered relevant information for designing teachers' courses using a constructivist approach.

Keywords : Conceptions; science education; elementary school teachers; scientific conceptions.