CONCEPÇÕES ALTERNATIVAS SOBRE LUZ, COR E VISÃO

Abstract

This work presents some aspects of Optics gathered from an investigation which focused on conceptions related to light, color, and vision. The data were gathered through a questionnaire containing nine practical situations, on which two groups, one of junior high school students and another of graduate students and physics teachers, were asked to answer some questions. The results showed that the first group had the same kind of alternative conceptions already held by pupils of similar level in other investigations, such as the identification of light with its source or light effects. They also had some other alternative conceptions, such as the idea that light does not reflect from objects but stays on them. The second group did not show the same alternative conceptions that the first group did, but they still did not establish any relationship between color and vision: color was considered a property of light which is determined by the light wavelength.