FORCES AND THEIR EFFECTS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF TEACHERS IN TRAINING VERSUS PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Teaching science involves building bridges between the scientific knowledge and the knowledge that students can build. Specifically, the teachers in training must understand the scientific concepts and their didactic foundations, so that their future students can learn in a meaningful way and be able to apply and build a solid knowledge of the concepts taught. However, various studies have shown that a relevant percentage of students arrive at higher academic levels with a great lack of knowledge about basic scientific contents such as, for example, those related to forces and their effects. The general objective of this research was to diagnose and compare the level of knowledge about forces and their effects acquired by teachers in their formative stage, as well as by students at the last levels of primary school. The sample consisted of 267 subjects divided into two groups. Group 1 was formed by 148 students from the Degree in Primary Education, teachers in training aged between 21-28 years. Group 2 was made up of 119 students from the 5th and 6th grades of Primary Education (10-12 years old). As a measuring instrument, a diagnostic test was developed with 33 closed-ended questions based on the content of forces required by the educational curriculum in the subject of Natural Sciences at the last two years of Primary School. The results of the research reveal that there is a low level of knowledge of both teachers in training and primary school students in relation to the content under study. The descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the data collected allowed comparisons to be made between the two selected samples. The results reveal the existence of statistically significant differences (Sig. < 0.05) in the average grades and in the scores obtained in different questions of the evaluation test. The grades are somewhat better in the teacher in training, although not all that is expected or in all established categories. Thus, for example, it is important to note that the results obtained in the questions related to simple machines and the properties of materials were more satisfactory for primary school students than for teachers in training. We therefore believe that it is necessary to develop active, practical methodologies at the training stage of the future teachers that promote the acquisition of scientific content and even its integration into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) projects. In this way, an improvement in the competence education of teachers in training could be achieved and the didactics of scientific contents could be improved at the primary level.