Fifth grade elementary students’ conceptions of earthquakes

In light of the findings of the current study, there may be several key implications for educators and curriculum planners. First of all, it is clear that students do not have enough scientific knowledge about earthquakes. Therefore, earthquakes should be included in the elementary science curriculum and taught in science classes at this level according to students’ ages and prior knowledge. Second, educators could help elementary teachers create constructivist based science classrooms for teaching the subject. Educators could provide teaching materials and resources for elementary teachers to help them teach the material in their classes. Third, students should be taught about earthquakes by integrating science and social studies classes. Therefore, students can be taught both the scientific and social aspects.

The current study may instigate new questions for researchers to investigate in the future. The current study focused only on grade 5 students with a small sample size. Researchers could compare conceptions of students living in different geographical regions, including those which have experienced earthquakes recently and those that have not. Researchers may also investigate students’ conceptions by comparing grade 5, grade 8 and grade 12 students in order to see if there is any change across grade level. Further research can be conducted with pre-service and in-service teachers in order to investigate their conceptions of earthquakes and efficacy in teaching earthquakes.