Preparation for Future Conceptual Learning: Content-Specific Long-Term Effects of Early Physics Instruction

This study used a quasi-randomized within-classroom design to investigate whether prior knowledge about physics gained in elementary school prepares students for future learning in related content areas in secondary school. A total of 433 children (intervention group) received four basic curriculum units on physics from their elementary school teachers. The units dealt with floating and sinking, air and atmospheric pressure, the stability of bridges, and sound and the spreading of sound. These children entered 60 newly composed classes in early secondary school that completed an advanced curriculum unit on hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy force with their secondary school teachers. A total of 942 students (control group) in these classes had not received the four basic physics curriculum units. On a conceptual knowledge test about hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy force, the intervention group outperformed the control group in the pretest (d = 0.28) and in the posttest (d = 0.25). Students in the intervention group showed similar learning gains as those in the control group, but when controlling for pretest performance, they achieved higher learning outcomes. Regression analyses within the intervention group revealed that this advantage resulted from the content-specific transfer of conceptual knowledge from topically related basic curriculum units. The basic physics instruction also prepared male and female students for future learning.