A Private Universe
This 18-minute video shows interviews with Harvard graduates and faculty
who appear confused about what causes the seasons. We also see Heather,
an articulate, intelligent high-school student, who has a great many ideas
about astronomy. Interviews with Heather both before and after her classroom
lessons about astronomy reveal that she has learned much but is still confused
about some key aspects of the subject. Although some of Heather’s ideas
after instruction are solid, others are inconsistent with accepted scientific
ideas. Some of her ideas stubbornly resist change, both in the classroom
and during on-camera challenges.
Sessions from
The Private Universe Project Workshop Series:
Session One: "ASTRONOMY: Eliciting Student Ideas"
This 90-minute video includes student interviews about astronomy, discussion
of issues the students raise, and strategies for effective teaching. Interviews
with Harvard graduates and faculty show that they are confused about what
causes the seasons. We also see Heather, an articulate, intelligent high-school
student, who has a great many ideas about astronomy. Interviews with Heather
both before and after her classroom lessons about astronomy reveal that
she has learned much but is still confused about some key aspects of the
subject. Although some of Heather’s ideas after instruction are solid,
others are inconsistent with accepted scientific ideas. Some of her ideas
stubbornly resist change, both in the classroom and during on-camera challenges.
Session Two: "BIOLOGY: Lessons Pulled From Thin Air"
This 90-minute video includes student interviews about the source of
a log’s mass, discussion of issues students raise, and strategies for effective
teaching. One interview, with Harvard and MIT graduates, demonstrates that
even college graduates hold misconceptions about basic concepts in science.
When 21 graduates from Harvard and MIT were shown a log and were asked
to explain where its mass and that of the rest of the tree came from, none
mentioned the air as a source of the log's mass. Some graduates were surprised,
and some even disagreed, when the interviewer suggested that the mass of
the tree came mostly from the carbon dioxide in the air. Extensive interviews
with a middle-school student show similar misconceptions and illustrate
how some student ideas are quite resistant to change.
Session Four: "CHEMISTRY: A Schoolhouse With No Foundation"
This 90-minute video includes student interviews about the particulate
nature of matter, discussion of issues the students raise, and strategies
for effective teaching. In one interview Jamie, a gifted 8th-grader, thinks
about some phenomena that relate to the particulate model of matter. Jamie
is presented with two tasks. In the first, she is presented with a syringe
filled with air. The air in the syringe is compressed ("squashed"), and
Jamie is asked to draw a diagram of the air inside the syringe before and
after it is squashed. In the second task, Jamie is presented with a closed
flask containing air. She is asked to describe what the air would look
like in the flask if it were possible for her to see it magnified many
times. Then a pump is used to remove some of the air, and Jamie is asked
to describe what the air would look like if half of the air were removed
from the flask. The tasks examine whether Jamie spontaneously applies the
idea of the particulate nature of air, whether she thinks that the particles
are evenly scattered, and what she thinks is in the spaces between the
particles. Jamie's responses are repeatedly prompted by the interviewer.
In another interview Chris, a 6th-grader, explains what happens to the
air in a syringe after it gets compressed. Chris is asked to draw a diagram
of the syringe and the air inside before and after it gets squashed. The
task examines whether Chris spontaneously applies the idea of the particulate
nature of air, whether he thinks that the particles are evenly scattered,
and what he thinks is in the spaces between the particles. These interviews
and others provide a compelling exhibit of student ideas about the structure
of matter.