Pre-Service Primary Teachers' Models of Kinetic Theory: An Examination of Three Different Cultural Groups

In this paper we describe research involving an investigation into Australian and Fiji pre-service primary teachers- mental models for Kinetic Theory. The study revealed that the teachers held a variety of mental models, some that were in agreement with the scientific models, and some that were incomplete, while a number appeared to hold no clear mental model. A constructivist-based pedagogy that was used to develop the Fiji teachers' understanding of Kinetic Theory appears to have been effective in model development. Participants reported that the most beneficial of techniques employed instruction based on the use of physical and analogical models.