Kalimantan Case
Leo Sutrisno
Dept. Math and Science
Education
Faculty of Education
Tanjungpura University
Pontianak, Indonesia
1. Textbooks’ presentation of the physics of sound
1.1 The generation of sound
1.2 The transmission of sound
1.2 The detection of sound
2 Teachers' knowledge of the physics of sound
2.1 The generation of sound
2.2 The transmission of sound
2.3 The detection of sound
3. Students' pre-conceptions about sound
3.1 The generation of sound
3.2 The transmission of sounds
3.3 The medium of the transmission of sound
3.4 The velocity of sound
3.5 Light velocity vs sound velocity
3.6 The night phenomena of sound transmission
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3.7 The sound of thunder
3.8 The loudness of sound
3.9 The Doppler Effect
3.10 The effect of the gravitational force on sound
List of figures
Figure 3.1 A model of the transmission of sound
List of Tables
Table 3.1 Percentages of students who held different ideas
from scientists' ideas related to sound phenomena
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This presentation discusses concepts of sound. The
concept as presented in Indonesian senior high school textbooks
will be the first. Although it is hoped that teachers' conceptions
would be consonant with scientists' conceptions, it would be
valuable to examine this assumption. As a focus for the
discussion, students' ideas about sound before they have been
taught (students' pre-conceptions) at secondary level will be
presented in detail.
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disturbance which can be detected by ears" (p.34) - bunyi
adalah jenis usikan yang dapat diditeksi oleh telinga. The
word usikan has been used in the previous chapter to
describe an up and down movement of the surface of
water (ripples) when something is dropped. The following
sentences do not elaborate. So students may still not
have a clear idea of what sound is. EGM and Kamajaya's
books do not provide a satisfactory definition of sound.
These two books begin by describing the source of sound as "a
vibrating thing". To convince them, readers are asked to stick their
finger on their throat while speaking, so they can feel vibrations.
The limits of the auditory area are given as between 20 Hz and
20,000 Hz and EGM reminds readers that each person has a
different threshold of hearing: for elderly people, the auditory
band becomes narrow, and they may not be able to hear even the
song of crickets.
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2. Teachers' knowledge of the physics of
sound
It is rather difficult to examine teachers' knowledge
directly by administering a set of tests. Not only did the
investigator lack the authority for doing this but also teachers
could be unwilling to take part in an exercise which might reveal
their inadequacies.
There were several physics teachers enrolled in an in-
service training program who were willing to participate in the
investigation. They were seven junior high school teachers and
five senior high school teachers. It is believed that this sample
may not be a representative sample. However, they share
common academic backgrounds with their colleagues in that they
did not have major studies in either physics or physics education.
Nine common students' ideas which are reported in
Section 3.3 were given to the teachers for comment. Teachers'
comments then are examined in the following sections.
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Only one of the junior high school teachers disagreed with
the student's idea that sound is carried by waves which is similar
to a “person being carried by a bus".
Two junior high school teachers did not fully agree with the
statement "because there is no sunlight at night sound can be
heard from far away".
• It is not completely true .... It depends on the nature of the source
of the sound. (Teacher no.7)
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• At night, air particles become close to each other. It is known that
the closer the medium is the more difficult it is to pass through it.
(Teacher no.6)
All responses fell into two groups. The first group consists
of students' responses which indicate that sound is generated by
vibration (77%). The second group consists of those which do not
(23%).
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Figure 3.1 A model of the transmission of sound
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could pass through air and water as well, another question would
be "In which medium is it faster?" Such a question was not asked
of students who believed that sound can only pass through air.
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• P: A loud sound can reach a distant place. So its velocity
should be high. (Student no.17)
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Phenomena Per cent
Important terms
textbooks are of great concern in West Kalimantan
buku paket
Energi, gelombang dan medan
Buku Pelajaran Fisika untuk SMA
The generation of sound as seen in the text
The transmission of sound
The detection of sound
Teachers' knowledge of the physics of sound
The generation of sound
The transmission of sound
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The detection of sound
Students' pre-conceptions about sound
Experiential Gestalt of Causation (EGC) approach
The generation of sound
The transmission of sounds
The medium of the transmission of sound
The velocity of sound
Light velocity vs sound velocity
The night phenomena of sound transmission
The sound of thunder
The loudness of sound
The Doppler Effect
The effect of the gravitational force on sound
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