Physics historical and current knowledge significance in mitigating misconceptions in learning heat transfer

Heat is difficult for students to understand because it is abstract and counterintuitive resulting in misconceptions. The term heat is used in everyday life, but meanings of this term vary with the situation. Adjectives like flow, flowing, moves, moving and transfer are used causing confusion of what heat really is and how it moves or is transferred. In the context of these complexities it should not be surprising that heat transfer is an abstract confusing term to students. Through misconceptions students develop, learning of concepts associated with heat is adversely affected. This study sought to find out ways in which learner preconceptions and misconceptions on heat can be reconciled with scientific form. The study used a qualitative approach employing desk research design. Text analysis of various articles and interpretation was done to understand and explore issues related to the research problem. Articles and documents used in the study were purposively sampled, based on the researcher’s understanding of the research problem and data relevant to the purpose of the study. Findings show that science instruction should assist students to recognise and understand the functional appropriateness of personal knowledge in certain scientific contexts. Different representations of knowledge in heat transfer should be identified and clarified. It is of great importance to clarify relations and meanings of these representations to assist students to understand their own and scientific ideas.