Understanding the particulate nature of matter

Developing understanding of the particulate nature of matter

is a completed graduate project in the Faculty of Education of the National University of Mexico, taken under the supervision of Dr. Fernando Flores Camacho (Science Learning Laboratory, Centre for Applied Sciences and Technological Development), that included a six month study visit at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge.

During the study visit field work was undertaken in Cambridge schools to explore student understanding of a range of chemical phenomena. This led to publications in the Journal of the Learning Sciences and International Journal of Science Education:

Garcia Franco, A. & Taber, K. S. (2009) Secondary Students’ Thinking about Familiar Phenomena: Learners’ explanations from a curriculum context where ‘particles’ is a key idea for organising teaching and learning. International Journal of Science Education, 31(14), 1917-1952. (DOI: 10.1080/09500690802307730.)

Taber, K. S., & García Franco, A. (2010). Learning processes in chemistry: Drawing upon cognitive resources to learn about the particulate structure of matter. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(1), 99-142

Investigator: Dr Alejandra García Franco

Alejandra García Franco, is currently Profesora – Investigadora in the Departamento de Procesos y Tecnología at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana at Cuajimalpa (Mexico).

Dr Alejandra García Franco was a visiting student at Homerton College, Cambridge, whilst a study visitor in the Faculty of Education

Since receiving her doctorate, Alejandra has, inter alia, worked on a project to encourage indigenous Mexican girls in Chiapas (one of the poorest States, with one of the largest indigenous populations, in Federal Mexico) to aspire to scientific careers.