Examining difficulties, challenges, and alternative conceptions students exhibit while learning about heat and temperature concepts

At the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary stages of education, the ideas of heat and temperature are crucial to science education. This study set out to look into the difficulties that students have when learning about heat and temperature. A survey containing open-ended, multiple-choice, and Likert-scale questions was utilized by the researchers to gauge the comprehension of 205 participants who the City College of New York students were. The investigation’s findings showed that students had trouble developing a conceptual understanding of the topics of heat and temperature and frequently rely on their own knowledge, reason, and common sense rather than establishing a thorough scientific understanding. Their capacity to apply these concepts in various circumstances is hampered by this conceptual knowledge deficit. The study also discovered that as individuals advance through their academic careers, they typically get a better comprehension of heat and temperature concepts. The results of this study suggest that educators should be aware of these difficulties and work on addressing the need of students to develop meaningful, deep learning of these concepts.