4 Summary

In this unit you have learnt about some of the misunderstandings that students have and some strategies for finding out more about your students’ understanding. You have also had an opportunity to use a strategy to help improve your students’ understanding.

None of the strategies described in Resource 2 need specialist practical resources or take up a lot of time in class. Why not try using the concept cartoons or a card sort when you are teaching this topic, or when students are revising? ‘Traffic lights’ can also be a useful technique whenever you want to gauge understanding quickly.

Resource 5 provides a set of statements about energy. The statements are accompanied by answers and comments. You could use these statements to explore your own understanding as described in Case Study 1, but you can also use this resource to help you identify possible points of difficulty for your students.

Although this unit has focused on energy, work and force, students will have alternative models and frameworks in other areas of the science curriculum. You can adapt the techniques in Resource 3 to use with other topics. This will be easier if you work with other teachers and share resources and experiences.