The use of letter writing activity to identify 5th and 8th grade students' misconceptions about heat and temperature

The purpose of this study to identify and compare fifth and eighth grade students' misconceptions about heat and temperature through letter writing, one of the writing-to-learn activities. Document analysis, a qualitative research method, was used for this study. The sample of this study consisted a total of 100 students (50 fifth graders and 50 eighth graders) from two middle schools in Yağlıdere, Giresun in 2017-2018 Fall Term. Letter writing, a writing-to-learn activity, was used as data collection method. The letters of the students were examined through content analysis and then tables were created by using themes and codes according to the students' replies. The results of this study concluded that the fifth and eighth graders had many missing conceptions and misconceptions about heat and temperature. Furthermore it was seen that the fifth and eighth graders had similar misconceptions. For example; heat is the temperature of a material, heat is measured with a thermometer, the measurement unit of temperature is Joule. Keywords: Misconceptions, Heat and Temperature, Letter Writing, Writing-to-learn Activity