Elon Langbeheim

We show that student reasoning about the particle model of matter is sensitive to pictorial and verbal formats of conceptual questions. This phenomenon is consistent across ages and
curricula although the magnitude of the differences varies. We used a randomized trial in
which a pictorial and verbal format of the same questions were assigned to students in the
same classrooms. We administered the same questionnaire to three groups of secondary school students in three countries and found a significant difference in student response patterns between questions formats across all three groups. We suggest a more nuanced approach to the analysis of student ideas about matter that combines verbal and pictorial cues. Such an approach might have important implications on the design of curricula and learning
progressions concerning the particle model of matter