Authors
Michael J Reiss, Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
Publication date
2001/9
Journal
Research in Science Education
Volume
31
Pages
383-399
Publisher
Kluwer Academic Publishers
Description
How do people develop their understanding of what is inside them? This study looks at students' understandings of their internal structure. A cross-sectional approach was used involving a total of 158 students in England from six different age groups (ranging from four year old students to first year undergraduates). Students were given a blank piece of A4-sized paper and asked to draw what they thought was inside themselves. Repeated inspections of the completed drawings allowed us to construct a seven point scale of these representations. Our analysis shows the extent to which student understanding increases with age and the degree to which students know more about some organs and organ systems than others. While gender differences in the drawings were generally not large there were some intriguing differences in the ways males and females drew reproductive organs.
Total citations
2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202412137591313171127251722292419222416163
Scholar articles