Program - Brookhaven National Laboratory

that a lot of them generally described radiation as something artificial and man-made. Also, none of the
interviewed students reported applications of nuclear radiation in medicine or technology (besides its use
in nuclear power plants). All of these results have shown to be even more extreme in the interview session
that was conducted after the tragic events of Fukushima. As some of the students’ conceptions seem to be
inconsistent with the scientific concepts, we will also include suggestions for improving the teaching of the
topic radiation in school.
[1] Duit, R., Treagust, D., & Widodo, A. (2008). Teaching science for conceptual change: Theory and
practice. International handbook of research on conceptual change, 629-646. [2] Lijnse, P. L., Eijkelhof, H.
M. C., Klaassen, C. W. J. M., & Scholte, R. L. J. (1990). Pupils’ and mass-media ideas about radioactivity.
International Journal of Science Education, 12(1), 67 - 78. [3] Verplanken, B. (1989). Beliefs, attitudes,
and intentions toward nuclear energy before and after Chernobyl in a longitudinal within-subjects design.
Environment and Behavior, 21(4), 371-392. [4] Neumann, S., & Hopf, M. (2012). Students’ Conceptions
About ’Radiation’: Results from an Explorative Interview Study of 9th Grade Students. Journal of Science
Education and Technology, 1-9. doi: 10.1007/s10956-012-9369-9
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