Grade 11 student's mental model of the Nature of Light

Abstract

This study aims to explore Grade 11 Student's Mental model of the Nature of Light with the integration of learning about light. The participants were 50 students in Ban Tha Muang School, Buriram, Thailand, Province Thailand. The methodology is in the respect of interpretive paradigm by opened question about Nature of light and interview. The results were student could to explain primary light sources more than secondary light sources because they could students easily find primary light sources in everyday life. Student could to model of understanding mental model about moving light. They could to explain light travels straight out of the light source and travel because its intermediaries because light was electric wave including understanding Mental Model. They could to draw and explain light travels straight from the sun through the vacuum and the atmosphere of the earth and there are some students who paint a wave of light by drawing a wave like a wave in a rope. They could to explain mental model of visibility as see with our eyes, however, there are only some students who associate the impact and reflection to explain the vision. This paper also discusses teaching science about the student's mental model of Nature of Light in physics as a guideline for those who are involved in the development of learning, focusing on learners who learn to light.