自 1970 年代的初期，科學教育研究的主題開始強調學生在特定科學學科領域的 概念學習歷程。依構主義理論建議要對學生進行任何正式的科學教學之前，先確定出學生原 有概念的想法，以及瞭解這些認知的特質是有效學習的重要因素。 本研究的目的即在了解國小六年級學生對於地球形狀、其與居住環境之關係、及地球運動所 具有的想法，並探討學生對此概念的學習特性及概念改變的歷程。本研究重點在於分析學生 在正式學習前後之想法及其概念改變之歷程，並探討學生之另有想法對地球運動概念學習之 影響。本研究採用質的研究方法，個案來自臺南縣、市各一所國小的二十位孩童，其中男女 各半。利用自然晤談探究個案對地球形狀、其與居住環境之關係、及地球運動在教學前、教 學後立即、及教學後四個月的想法，以及想法的改變歷程。同時對教學情境及教師教學作分 析。研究結果顯示學生學前對地球的形狀都已知為圓球形，然對地球與居住環境的係部份學 生具有不同於教師之另有想法，而這些想法影響學生在正式教學中之學習，且不易因教學而 改變。在日夜及四季成因主題中，學前學生則多以直覺感官經驗解釋之，教學後公轉、陽光 直斜射、晝夜長短變化、四季受光面積不同等說法與直覺經驗合出現在晤談中，然其解釋的 方式卻與教師之想法不同。教學的內容對學生而言，若無法合理地與舊經驗結合時，在教學 後四個月又回復到原有的直覺經驗之想法。本研究並依結果所呈現之學習特性提出對教材、 教學方法之建議。

　　　　　In the early 1970s, research in science education began to focus on the conceptual learning processes that lie behind students' thinking in particular science domains. Constructivist theory suggests that it is important to identilfy children's notions and to understand the nature of their ideas before giving them any formal secience instruction. This study investigates, through clinical interviews, elementary students' ideas about the shape of the Earth and its movements and to better understand the characteristics of children's thinking and the processes of concept change. The purposes of this research are (1) to analyze the ideas that sixth-graders hold befor and after the formal science instruction and (2) to investigate the processes of their concept change. The research approach in this study is qualitative. Clinical interview is used to investigate twenty children's ideas before, immediately after, and four months after instruction about the shape of the Earth, living environments and the Earth, and the movement of the Earth. These students, ten boys and ten girls, were selected from two elementary schools in Tainan City and Tainan County. The environment of the science classes and the teaching methods of the science teachers are also studied. The findings show that all the subjects know that the shape of the Earth is a sphere, but some of their ideas about where we live on the Earth are different from their teachers' ideas and are difficult to change. Students' ideas about day and night and seasons are quite different from their teachers' Before formal teaching, most students hold ideas affected by their direct physical experiences. After formal teaching, students' ideas are influenced by the ideas of Earth's revolution, the direction of sunlight striking the Earth, the differences in the lengths of day and night, and the different areas of sunlight striking the Earth in different seasons. Subjects mix up their physical experiences with science terms they learn from their science classes to explain the causes of day and night and seasons. If students cannot reasonably link what they learn from classes with their prior experiences, they still hold the ideas from their early experiences four months after teaching. According to the findings, the researcher states some suggestions about teaching methods and materials for teaching concepts of the Earth.