Alternative ideas in teachers and students of Physical Natural Sciences

Abstract

This article addresses certain alternative ideas in the Physical and Natural Sciences teachers as well as the relationship between these and those held by students. The main objective was to identify and analyze the presence of alternative ideas about specific concepts of Physics, Chemistry and Biology in Natural Sciences teachers and explore the possible influence on their students. To achieve the above, a qualitative cross-sectional research was carried out during the first semester of 2023, specifically between May and June, through a case study in a private school in Managua, where instruments such as interviews with the Natural Sciences teacher (informant A), a diagnostic test to all eleventh-grade students (informants B), and observations of the learning process were applied. Among the main results of the study the following stand out: Alternative ideas were identified in Physics and Chemistry, but not in Biology. In the area of ​​Physics, informants A and B share the alternative idea that if an opaque body is placed between a point source of light and a screen, the shadow will project diffuse edges. On the other hand, in the area of ​​Chemistry, the main alternative idea is found in informants B, who consider that organic compounds are only of natural origin. These results suggest that alternative ideas in Physics and Chemistry should be addressed more effectively in the teaching process, while the area of ​​Biology seems to be more aligned with accepted scientific concepts.