We also prepare students to solve personally-relevant problems they will encounter in the future. To build on students ideas we need to select science ideas at the right level of analysis. The first is more exciting, more wonderful, and more fun, but the second is easier to get at first, and is a first step to a real understanding of the second idea. This point arises again and again in teaching physics. As mentioned above, students often believe that heat is the high numbers on the thermometer.
Much experience suggests that heat and temperature are similar.
Often, students ideas stem from accurate observations. We designed instruction that guides students to conduct experiments on insulation and conduction and to disentangle these ideas. We encourage links to related experiences. Fundamentally, building on students ideas takes time, so we need to provide deep coverage. We find that when the curriculum is diluted with new topics, performance on the items requiring the most sophisticated connections falls.