Digging Into Earth Science: Teachers' Alternative Conceptions in the Geosciences

A sample of K-12 South Dakota teachers was investigated to discover if they held alternative conceptions in the geosciences. Data were collected through surveys (n=38), questionnaires (n=49), individual interviews (n=8) and a 30 item multiple-choice instrument called the geoscience concept test (n=44). Information about teachers' personal interests, classroom occurrence of basic geoscience topics and teachers' personal conceptions about these same topics were gathered. According to the survey results, the study of volcanoes generated both high interest and high classroom occurrence ratings. In contrast, the study of plate tectonics generated low ratings for both interest and occurrence. In fact, only 30% of teachers were able to correctly identify the location of the Earth's tectonic plates. Taking into consideration the important relationships between these two topics, it may suggest that plate tectonics is a subject that teachers do not feel adequately prepared to teach. Additionally, a large number of teachers (79%) perceive the Earth as having a "liquid" or "molten" core. Consequently, 38 of 49 teachers questioned attributed the source of magma to the Earth's core. Another unexpected finding, was the reluctance of teachers to participate in the interview phase. Eight teachers agreed to participate in face-to-face interviews. This is in contrast to 62 who declined.