THE UNDERSTANDING OF PETROLEUM AND COAL AMONG 14 -16 YEAR OLD STUDENTS

Dr. Burckin Dal
Istanbul Technical University

Abstract

In this article, the students' ideas, including petroleum and coal and the improper terms related to or different from these ideas, all of which are considered or must be considered in geology classes, have been analysed. In this article the term alternative conception is used to inform our understanding of students' ideas and describe any conceptual difficulties which are different from or inconsistent with the accepted scientific definition. The sample consisted of 120 students of the 8th and 9th grades and 16 teachers. The students’ responses to survey are mostly similar and misconceptions are concentrated on the following categories: the origin and the structure of petroluem, its reservoirs and the importance in the society and the nature of coal and gasoline. In the light of foregoing foundings, the efforts to augment students’ future capacity for analysing and understanding the scientific concepts and models should be accelerated in order to improve the evaluation of the international relations and ecologic standards. sss

Keywords

Students’ thinkings, alternative concepts, petroleum, coal.