ERIC Number: EJ998901
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Mar
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0926-7220
EISSN: N/A
Healing, Mental Energy in the Physics Classroom: Energy Conceptions and Trust in Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Grade 10-12 Students
Svedholm, Annika M.; Lindeman, Marjaana
Science & Education, v22 n3 p677-694 Mar 2013
Lay conceptions of energy often conflict with scientific knowledge, hinder science learning and scientific literacy, and provide a basis for ungrounded beliefs. In a sample of Finnish upper secondary school students, energy was attributed with features of living and animate beings and thought of as a mental property. These ontologically confused conceptions (OCC) were associated with trust in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and independent of scientifically valid conceptions. Substance-based energy conceptions followed the correlational pattern of OCC, rather than scientific conceptions. OCC and CAM decreased both during the regular school physics curriculum and after a lesson targeted at the ontological confusions. OCC and CAM were slightly less common among students with high actively open-minded thinking, low trust in intuition and high need for cognition. The findings are discussed in relation to the goals of scientific education.
Descriptors: Physics, Secondary School Students, Medicine, Scientific Literacy, Grade 10, Energy, Grade 11, Grade 12, Science Education, Science Instruction, Beliefs, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 10; Grade 11; Grade 12; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A