Synthesis and Analysis of Interview Findings
Our hypothesis was that the understanding of how ocean waves occur would be flawed. We hypothesized that the people that we interviewed would have the misconception that the gravitational pull of the moon causes ocean waves. We predicted that this would come from people’s understanding of coastal tides. We interviewed 12 people from various backgrounds, ages, and locations. Out of the twelve people, five had the correct answer of wind causing waves. The other seven people held the misconception that either the gravity of the moon or the rotation of the Earth causes ocean waves.
We noticed those who had the correct answer generally were from an area close to the sea. For example, one woman who answered correctly explained that she had learned about waves from surfing. Those who answered incorrectly had created their own understanding of where they had learned the concept. As pointed out in the video, some interviews thought they remembered learning about the topic in schools, while others simply used their knowledge of other topics, such as tides, to create an explanation, as is the nature of misconceptions.
One other interesting observation that we made during interviews was the number of Irish subjects had a much better understanding of the concept of ocean wave formation than our American subjects. When asked where they had learned about waves, several responded that they learned about it in geography. In America, waves and oceanography are mostly considered subjects taught in science class. This observation neither refutes nor confirms our hypothesis, but was merely a glimpse into different systems of education.
Overall, our hypothesis was proven correct. The majority of the people we interviewed were under the misconception that some sort of gravitational pull creates ocean waves. It is clear how and why these misconceptions are created and perpetuated when people draw on their knowledge of tides and Earth’s rotational force.
We noticed those who had the correct answer generally were from an area close to the sea. For example, one woman who answered correctly explained that she had learned about waves from surfing. Those who answered incorrectly had created their own understanding of where they had learned the concept. As pointed out in the video, some interviews thought they remembered learning about the topic in schools, while others simply used their knowledge of other topics, such as tides, to create an explanation, as is the nature of misconceptions.
One other interesting observation that we made during interviews was the number of Irish subjects had a much better understanding of the concept of ocean wave formation than our American subjects. When asked where they had learned about waves, several responded that they learned about it in geography. In America, waves and oceanography are mostly considered subjects taught in science class. This observation neither refutes nor confirms our hypothesis, but was merely a glimpse into different systems of education.
Overall, our hypothesis was proven correct. The majority of the people we interviewed were under the misconception that some sort of gravitational pull creates ocean waves. It is clear how and why these misconceptions are created and perpetuated when people draw on their knowledge of tides and Earth’s rotational force.