Abstract:

It is known that students build new knowledge on the base of the alternative ideas they have about any topic. Alternative ideas are mental elementary constructions that helps students to understand everyday phenomena. Thus, the finding of alternative ideas by the instructor is a must to achive a sinificant learning.

The research carried out in the frame of this communication aims to address the alternative ideas of pre-service teachers, about the phenomenon of light. The selection of academic contents has been carried out according to the corresponding curriculum of Elementary Education. The considered sample consisted on 76 pre-service teachers, and the employed instrument for alternative ideas’ detection was a questionnaire. Students were asked to fill in the questionnaire in two key moments of the research: before instruction (pre-test) and after instruction (post-test). The active and participative character are the main features of the implemented instruction.

The found alternative ideas were related e.g. to the dual feature of light; to the prediction and explication of the color of the objects; to the understanding of the phenomena of reflexion, refraction and disperssion of light; or to the prediction of the behaviour of light in optical instruments kind of mirrors of lenses.

The obtained results showed that there was a significative increase in the number of right answers selected in the questionnaire after the instruction had been carried out. However, there was a percentage of some alternative ideas that prevailed after instruction, which demonstrated their resistence to change.

Keywords:

Alternative ideas, light, conceptual change, university students, theoretical-practical intervention.