A Cognitive Investigation Of The Interdisciplinary Concept "energy" In High School Students

In 2013,the United States released the NGSS and proposed 7 crosscutting concepts,which attracted worldwide attention.The crosscutting concepts is not only a common concept that appears repeatedly in various scientific disciplines,but also a way of thinking.The study of crosscutting concepts and core ideas of subject are closely related and complement each other.Crosscutting concepts can deepen students' understanding of the core ideas of the subject,and the core ideas is conducive to the construction of the crosscutting concepts.In addition,the study of crosscutting concepts helps students to realize the integration of knowledge of different disciplines,understand the connection between different disciplines,and form a unified and integrated understanding of natural sciences.The concept of energy is one of the crosscutting concepts that appears repeatedly in physics,chemistry,and biology.It is also an important concept in physics.However,the concept of energy is not unified in the teaching of various disciplines,but is related to a specific subject background.In order to teach energy concept effectively and coherently in different subjects,we must first understand students' understanding of energy concept in different subjects,and then take targeted teaching measures according to specific situations.This research uses the literature method to sort out the energy-related knowledge in the compulsory textbooks of physics,chemistry,and biology in junior and senior high schools.At the same time,it sorted out the expected performance of the energy concept of students in grades 6-8 and 9-12 in the NGSS and K-12 framework documents,and determined the four dimensions of energy concept understanding.According to the SOLO classification theory,the cognition degree of each dimension is divided into four levels,and the energy concept assessment questionnaire is developed.The Rasch model was built to test and optimize the reliability and validity of the questionnaire,and then two classes of senior one and senior two were tested formally.The SPSS was used to analyze the test results to explore students' understanding of the four dimensions of energy concept,as well as the influence of discipline,gender and grade on students' performance.The results of the research show that the first and second grades of high school perform best in the dimension of " source and form of energy",and the performance is worst in the dimension of "energy conservation".But overall,students' cognition in the four dimensions of energy concept is between level 2 and level 3.Grade is the main factor that affects students' understanding of energy concepts.As the grade increases,students' cognition of energy concepts has been significantly improved.And there is no significant difference in the comprehensive performance of students in different subjects.