Laypeople's Understanding of R

Laypeople's Understanding ofRadioactivity and Radiation：Results and discussion、Knowledge of the radiation process(10-17)、Radiation fear and attitudes(18-22)

Laypeople's Understanding of Radioactivity and Radiation

• Methods
  • Respndents(5)
    • 270 students in an physics course at the University of Oslo
      • 53% were women
      • 45% were men
      • 2%did not state sex
    • This group was chosen for reasons
      • The group was fairly large and easily accessible
      • The group mainly consisted of first-year students who had completed secondary education,but had not received formal instruction on radiation since leaving school
  • The questionnaire(7)
    • Two of these gave background infromation about gender and background in secondary school
    • Seven measured knowledge and understanding of radioactivity and radiation
    • Four were designed to give information about radiation fear and attitudes
  • Coding and analysis(8.9)
    • All answers were assigned to the appropriate categories and coded
    • Each of the questions concerning knowledge and understanding was appointed a maximum number of points
• Results and discussion
  • Knowledge of the radiation process(10-17)
    • Aim
      • To get an overview of the rsppondents' understanding of central concepts
    • Discovery
      • Question2
        • 62% answered in the affirmative
        • 50% believed that nuclear power stations could cause acid rain
      • Question3
        • 89% knew of the three radiation types
        • 34% could state what the radiation consisted of in each case
      • Question4
        • Laypeople had difficulties distinguishing the concept of radiation from that of radioactive material
      • Question5
        • 25% knowed the difinition of one becquerel
      • Question6
        • 74% gave a definition which might be called correct
        • Some of acceptable answers conceal a misunderstanding:It betrays a lack of understanding that disintegration of a radioactive atom involves the creation of a new nucleus
      • Question7
        • 55% attemped an answer
        • 10% answered spice
        • 12% said radiation made the spice radioactive
      • Question8
        • 75% answers were cancer
        • 49% mentioned mutations
        • 35% mentioned genetic damage
    • Summary
      • The investigation revealed an incomplete understanding of some central concepts concrening radiation phenomena
  • Radiation fear and attitudes(18-22)
    • Aim
      • To detect whether respondents feared radiation and to investigate their attitudes to the applications of radiation
    • Discovery
      • Question1
        • Only 16% were afraid of being exposed to radiation in their daily life
        • More women than men were afraid
        • No significant difference was found between the high and low score group
      • Question2
        • 62% were believed that there were sources of radiation in their home
      • Question9
        • 36% answered "yes"and 43"no"
        • 14% were uncertain and 7% failed to answer
        • More women than men were negative to nuclear power
        • High-score group being more positive
      • Question10
        • 57% answered "yes "and 17%"no"
        • 13% were uncertain ,13%failed to answer
        • More women than men believed the Komsomolets was a threat
        • No difference was found between the high-score group and low-score group
    • Summary
      • Women tended to be more worried about radiation and more sceptical about nuclear power than were men
• Implications for improving public understanding of radioactivity and radiation(23-28)
  • Current situation
    • The lay model of radiation phenomena differs from the expert model
  • Analyse of the situation
    • From the view of constructivist approach to learning
      • People do not feel the need to apply school knowledge to phenomena they encounter in real life
    • The answers to the questions concerning real-life situations which had been treated in the media might be affected by the media had taught them
  • Solutions of the situation
    • Millar developed a teaching unit on radioactivity and ionising radiation that took into account the pupils' preconceptions
    • Taking the lay conceptions into account and increasing in the integration betwwen factual information and practical considerations
• Introduction
  • Ionising radiation (1)
    • A life force
    • A doomsday power destined to cause the ulitimtae destruction of mankind
  • Why should people need to know radiation?(2)
    • The pragmatic reason
    • The democratic reason
    • The educational reason
  • How can knowledge be communicated to laypeople?(3)
    • His or her own understanding
    • External sources
      • Teachers
      • Peers
      • The mass media