Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Measuring Student Understanding Of Density, With Geological Applications, Emily L. Klingler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Density is an important physical concept in all of science. Substantial education research on the teaching and learning of density has occurred in physics, chemistry, and biochemistry; there has been little education research about density in the earth sciences. This study investigates the extent to which targeted instruction influences student understanding of density, and the frequency and accuracy with which students apply it in explanations of earth science phenomena. All data for the study were collected from students in The Environmental Geology of Maine (ERS 102) at the University of Maine during the spring and fall 2004 and spring 2005 …