Elementary Preservice Teachers' Understanding of the Image Observed in a Diverging Lens

The purpose of this research was to investigation of elementary preservice teachers’ understanding of the image observed in a diverging lens. To achieve the research purpose, Scientific inquiry activity of ‘Observing Objects through a Diverging Lens’ in the 2009 Revised Science Curriculum was carried out by 29 junior elementary preservice teachers, and preservice teachers’ difficulties were analyzed during scientific inquiry activity. The results were as follows. First, preservice teachers had difficulties in comparing the size of the images. Second, preservice teachers couldn't correctly explain the reason about the changing of the image size according to distance from the lens to the object. Third, preservice teachers couldn't correctly explain the changing of the image size according to distance from the lens to the eyes. Fourth, preservice teachers were classified into five levels according to their conceptions of the image formation by the diverging lens, and most of them stayed in the first level. The result of this research suggests that reformations in text and preservice teachers' education.