STUDENTS ’ AFFORDANCE OF TELEOLOGIC EXPLANATIONS AND ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE IN ELICITING CONCEPTS IN PHYSICS

This study ascertains that the students’ afordance of teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic language in elicitng concepts in Physics is infuenced by their age and learning exposure and experience. Using ExplicatveReductve Method of Descriptve Research, this study focused on the determinants of students’ afordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning to select concepts in Physics: Kinematcs, Dynamics, Statcs and Introducton to Thermodynamics. It was found out that the respondents had intermitently commited teleologic-anthropomorphic languages across age and nature of their secondary educaton. Furthermore, teleologic-anthropomorphic languages were found correctble by classroom interventons as indicated by the test results on age and curricular exposure.


INTRODUCTION
Learning, which takes place in a non-interventonists environment, is an actve process which is dynamically preceded by understanding and further analysis and investgaton.Knowledge and understanding taken from an array of sources, e.g.teachers, reading materials, educatonal flms, learning peers, cultural and traditonal beliefs and daily experiences, are re-processed into new forms of informaton that refocuses the belief and understanding of a learner.
Understood in a new sense of cognitve structures, these a-priori knowledge and understanding are taken as imperatve informaton from a merely teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning to a conceptual meaning.Descriptve analogies were less prone to elicit tenacious misconceptons than teleological analogies (Taber & Wats, 1996).
Teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages among learners had been regarded as a conceptual structure which in turn plays an actve role in the process of constructng personal knowledge in learning concepts of science.These meaningful and scientfc explanatons lead them in elicitng concepts in Physics in a more coherent and logical perspectve.
The students' teleologic explanaton, which is believed to be based on age, learning exposure and experience, is interpreted in a framework that converts personal beliefs and practces into contextual frameworks afected by their learning exposures through classroom discussions and cogniton between teacher and students, student and students, students and select learning modules and other academic infrastructures.

Familiarity Thesis
The familiarity thesis afrms that we anthropomorphize phenomenon because it allows us to explicate things we do not comprehend in a manner that we understand; hence, what we understand best is ourselves.The familiarity thesis is a primarily cognitve motvaton for anthropomorphism: it atempts to understand the world based on a mental model of the world that we are most familiar with.(Guthrie, 1997) in DiSalvo and Gemperle (2003).

Comfort Thesis
The comfort thesis is the prime emotonal motvaton for anthropomorphism.People anthropomorphize because they are not comfortable with things that are not like us; hence, "making" things be like us reduces discomfort.According to the comfort thesis, anthropomorphism is "an atempt to feel like we can delineate and persuade the world if it is more like us than not" (Guthrie, 1997) in DiSalvo and Gemperle (2003).

Best-Bet Thesis
The best-bet thesis is a cognitve and game-theoretc approach to anthropomorphism.The best-bet thesis states that "in a world of chronic uncertainty about the nature of the world, guessing consttutes a good bet on something or to an event that has a human cause: we gain much if we are right and we usually lose litle if we are wrong" (Guthrie, 1997) in DiSalvo and Gemperle (2003).Caporael and Heyes (1997) put forth a theory of anthropomorphism in a term Species-Specifc Group-Level Coordinaton System, which was then translated to social thesis.This thesis claims the psychological discussion of anthropomorphism is not neutral but is in fact value laden and defnes our interacton with the environment."From this perspectve, atributng human characteristcs to animals is a way of changing the values we place on them and how we can behave towards them".In the social thesis, the act of anthropomorphizing refects values and possesses the potental for social consequence (DiSalvo & Gemperle, 2003).

Object-Subject Interchangeability
The concept of object-subject interchangeability proposes that people atribute meaning to other people and objects in the constructon, adaptaton and maintenance of the self.The distncton between the infuence of other people and objects is not always frm.Anthropomorphism may be used to atribute a human-like quality to an object that has partcular salience in defning who we are individually or culturally (Jackson, 2002) in DiSalvo and Gemperle (2003).

Phenomenological Intersubjectvity
The concept of phenomenological intersubjectvity proposes that anthropomorphism is a refecton of how we experience and order the world.This concept argues that the objects that we experience seem to be animated by human consciousness and will.This causes the distncton between self and other to be blurred.Hence, anthropomorphism is a pragmatc response to such objects in order to make sense of them (Jackson, 2002) in DiSalvo and Gemperle (2003).

Van Fraassen (VF) Pragmatc Theory of Explanaton
VF theory of explanaton is essentally a theory of why-questons.According to Van Fraassen, formulatng a theory of explanaton poses two main problems: • the provision of an account of justfable rejecton of explanaton-request, and • the accountng for the asymmetries of explanaton.
To this end, he takes explanaton as a ternary relatonship that holds between theories, facts and contexts.
Why-questons and their answers are individuated relatve to a context.The point of construing a contextual analysis of explanaton is to put the concept of explanaton on grounds that are respectable from an empiricist standpoint.VF takes the "received view" as characterizing explanaton as a relatonship between theory and fact.This cogniton ends up to the existence of causal relatonships beyond the observable phenomena.

Objectves of the Study
This study atempted to analyze the students' afordance of teleological explanatons and anthropomorphic language in elicitng select concepts in Physics.
Specifcally, it sought to fnd explanatons of the following: • What is the extent of the students' preconceptons on select concepts in Physics as a result of their afordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning?
• Do classroom pedagogical interventons correct the students' afordance of teleologicanthropomorphic reasoning on select concepts in Physics?
• Which learning factor is associated with the students' afordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning on select concepts in Physics?

METHODOLOGY
The Descriptve Research design was used in this study as it tried to gather data on the prevalence of teleologicanthropomorphic languages of the respondents to select concept of Physics.This research design fts best in studies which aim is to describe the nature of situatons as it exists at the tme of the study and to explore the cause of a partcular phenomenon.The Explicatve-Reductve Method was employed in this study focused on the students' afordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning to select concepts of Physics: Kinematcs, Dynamics, Statcs and Introducton to Thermodynamics.The Explicatve Method was used to account a context encompassing variables and qualites atributed to the problem.This paved for the determinant of the students' afordance on teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic language of the respondents.On the other hand, the Reductve Method was used to elicit potental variables of the identfed context for enrichment and further analysis.
It involved a systematc investgaton using pre-assessment results, formatve evaluatons, interview and questonnaire as predominant methods of data collecton.Corroboraton of fndings, vis-à-vis with the identfed norms of the context of the study, was used to conclude on the students' afordance of teleologic explanaton and anthropomorphic language on select concepts of Physics.
The respondents of the study were the 48 students of the author in Physics 1 at AMA Internatonal University in the Kingdom of Bahrain, second trimester, AY 2013.There were 23 students in the age group 16 -17, 18 for the age group 18 -19, and 7 for the age group 20 and above.
T-test was used to diferentate the occurrence of teleologic understanding and anthropomorphic language to select principles in Physics before and afer classroom pedagogical interventons.Pearson-r correlaton and Pearson chi-square were used in determining the relatonship of select variables to their afordance of teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic language.Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) results were utlized to determine which of the variables in the grouping variables used is cogently discriminated in the process.

Figure 1. Research Paradigm
Presented in Figure 1 is the paradigm of the study.It made use of the assumptons that teleologic explanaton and anthropomorphic language of the students are infuenced by their age and learning exposure.Moreover, it also assumes that their learning exposure is dependent on the type of their atended secondary educaton curriculum.In this set up, there were 2 curricular orientatons which the respondents were grouped of: English and Arabic.The English curriculum was used by the Internatonal and Private Schools, and the Philippine School-Bahrain while the Arabic Curriculum was the public Science Curriculum.The science program of the English curriculum difers signifcantly from the Arabic curriculum in the following aspects: • all students are required to take science subjects in the English curriculum: Earth Science, Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.On the other hand, not everybody in the Arabic curriculum were required to take science as the content of their curriculum depends on their assessed inclinaton: Technical, Language and Arts, and Science.Only the qualifed students in Science were required to do science courses in their secondary educaton like Earth Science, Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics; • English is the medium of Instructon in the English Curriculum while plain Arabic is the medium of instructon in the Arabic Curriculum.
These variables were believed to be the respondents' input on their afordance of teleologic explanaton and anthropomorphic language on select concepts in Physics.
On the other hand, the teleologic explanaton and anthropomorphic language of the respondents were expected to be corrected by classroom pedagogical interventons.The interventons made were multmedia presentatons, classroom interactons and online discussions in the university online portal (both synchronous and asynchronous) to complement the designed laboratory experiments in honing their competencies in the subject.These cognitons helped them formulate new concepts and scientfc explanatons on select concepts in Physics: Kinematcs, Dynamics, Statcs and Thermodynamics.Using questons forming generalizatons on select topics of Kinematcs, Dynamics, Statcs and Thermodynamics, students' teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning was determined.It can be said that the students' who had just completed their secondary educaton had the least afordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning when compared to their counterparts.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Concomitantly, the students who completed English curriculum in their Secondary Science Program had the least afordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning when compared to their counterparts who had the Arabic curriculum.This phenomenon can be atributed to the fact that the medium of instructon used in the present study is English.This atributon is believed to be useful as students who have both the linguistc and semantc competences in English can easily infer on phenomenon and validate generalizatons based on facts.
Astutely, Piaget's Cognitve Development posits that language is contngent to the cognitve development of a learner.  2 is the comparison of the students' anthropomorphic explanaton to select concepts in Physics.Using the assumpton that anthropomorphic explanatons are correctble, students' were asked to explain the 15 abstract concepts in Physics before and afer classroom pedagogical interventons.The concepts used in this study were the following: 1 -Positon and Speed, 2 -4 Velocity and Acceleraton, 5 -9 Forces and Moton, 10 -12 Momentum and 13 -15 Thermodynamics.Among the concepts used in elcitng their anthropomorphic explanatons were the following: 1 -Positon vs Speed.When objects are in the same positon, they got the same speed; 2 -4.Velocity vs acceleraton.The same velocity means the same acceleraton; Constant velocity is zero acceleraton; and Velocity is absolute and not dependent on the frame of reference.5 -9.Forces vs moton: Zero acceleraton is a zero net forcé; The greater the angle of an applied force to a body, the greater is its resolved magnitude in the x-axis; Taken at x-axis, the resolved magnitude of a given force is inversely proporton to its angle of applicaton; direct proporton is observed in the y-axis; Inert forces do not make sense on the body's moton; and For a net force to point upward, the upward force must exceed the downward force, i.e. the normal force has to be greater than the weight (mg) of the ball.10 -11.Momentum: Moving masses in the absence of gravity do not have momentum; Conservaton of momentum applies only to collisions; and The center of mass of an object must be inside the object.13 -15.Thermodynamics.A cold body contains no heat; An object has no mass at absolute zero; and Heat and temperature are the same thing.All these had formed part in the students' teleologic explanaton and anthropomorphic language of the students in the subject.These explanatons and language when not corrected would eventually hamper their knowledge and understanding on select content and concepts of the subject.

Concept
Using dependent t-test, it shows that anthropomorphic explanatons of students to abstract concepts difer signifcantly before and afer the classroom treatment.It shows that the t-values of the 15-stems made a signifcant diference at .05 level of signifcance.Concept 10 on Momentum (Moving masses in the absence of gravity do not have momentum) was found in lesser signifcance when compared to the concepts contained in the study as it earned a p-value of .044.Concomitantly, the rest of the concepts yielded highly to very highly signifcant diference.It can be said, therefore, that there is a signifcant diference on the anthropomorphic explanatons of the students before and afer classroom pedagogical interventons.Hence, the null hypothesis, which states that there is no signifcant diference on the anthropomorphic explanatons of the students before and afer classroom pedagogical interventons, is hereby rejected.
This phenomenon is likened to the explanaton on the efects of pedagogical advancements in stmulatng students' cogniton in redirectng their teleologic reasoning and understanding to learning abstract principles in science (Taber, 2008).Central assumptons in learning science were encapsulated through the following tenets • Learning science is an actve process of constructng personal knowledge; • Learners come to science learning with existng ideas about many natural phenomenon atributed to their mental readiness and cogniton; • The learner's existng ideas have consequences for the learning of science; • It is possible to teach science more efectvely if account is taken of the learner's existng ideas; • Knowledge is represented in the brain as a conceptual structure; • Learner's conceptual structures exhibit both commonalites and idiosyncratc features; and  It was found out that there is a signifcant diference on the students' afordance of teleologic and anthropomorphic languages afer various classroom pedagogical interventons had been introduced: F-value of 9.407 and a p-value of .004, at .05 level of signifcance.Hence, it can be said that teleologic and anthropomorphic languages can be corrected as student-learners are confronted with various classroom pedagogical interventons.
The interactons of the classroom pedagogical interventons to the respondents' afordance of teleologic and anthropomorphic languages were also analyzed when the respondents were grouped according to their age and curricular undertakings: F-values of .395and 5.087, and p-values of .676and 0.030, at .05 level of signifcance, respectvely.Hence, it can be said that in this study, anthropomorphism is not reduced as one ages but it is depended on the nature of the curriculum atended.Hence, it can be said that teleologic and anthropomorphic language is dependent on the nature of the educatonal training and academic exposure.This phenomenon could be atributed to the fact that the students who were exposed to the English language could elicit beter ideas over their counterparts who were exposed to Arabic instructon.
It may be noted, however, that the impact of the classroom pedagogical interventons is moderately high considering that the coefcient of determinaton indicated by the adjusted R-squared is 67.5 %.This means that the pedagogical interventons done in the subject account for 67.5 % of the variability in the teleologic and anthropomorphic reasoning of the students.It is construed then that there are other important variables or factors that afect the students' teleologic and anthropomorphic reasoning, e.g., cognitve and metacognitve abilites, attude and motvaton in learning Physics.
Table 2 likewise presents the interacton between classroom pedagogical interventons and the age and curricular undertakings of student-respondents.It presents the impact of the interventons done in the study: Fvalue of 2.487 and p-value of .098 at .10 level of signifcance.These results were analyzed using the estmated marginal means with a covariate value of 7.92 as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 presents the relatonship of the estmated marginal means of the post-afordance results and the age of the respondents' concomitant to their curricular undertakings.The result of the post-test mean score is evaluated with the pre-afordance covariate value of 7.92.It presents that the students who were exposed to the English curriculum had the least afordance when compared to their Arabic counterparts across age brackets.Concomitantly, the interacton is highly evident to the afordance of the respondents at the age bracket of 20 and above.
These fndings support the claim of Kelemen and Rosset (2009) when they said that educatonal procedures and learning exposures alleviate the learner's tendency to anthropomorphize.On the other hand, Dorion (2011) concluded that anthropomorphic uterances are formed subsets of students' alternatve responses brought about by their intuitons and metacognitons.He further concluded that students use their prior knowledge in a range of self-refexivity in their abilites to anthropomorphize.Hence, the typology and heuristcs of conceptual thinking among students must also be considered.Leboe and Whitlesea (2002) concluded that the human mind has evolved heuristcs by using its prior experiences in bridging the missing, lost and damaged in a framework of conceptual thinking and understanding.It is in this context that the human mind conceptualizes and re-conceptualizes concepts based on his experiences and available explanatons within his schema.to what he already knows.They also tend to discover understanding through his environment.Hence, the theory conjectures the idea that cognitve development happens at the center of human organism and language is dependent to cognitve development.
Therefore, it can be said that teleologic-and-anthropomorphic afordance to elicit concepts in Physics forms a dichotomy of understanding: a springboard to develop a scientfc explanaton as one is exposed to further studies and explanaton.Taber and Wat (1996) hypothesized that anthropomorphism is just a stage in the development of an understanding.This afordance is expected to diminish as other levels of explanaton become available (cognitve and metacognitve understanding).Presented in Table 4 is the atributon of the students' teleologic and anthropomorphic languages to their age bracket and curricular undertakings.

Age
As can be gleaned on the table, the teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages of the studentrespondents are atributed to their age and curricular undertakings: r-value of .731and Χ 2 of -.308, and p-values of <.001 and .033,at .01 and .05levels of signifcance, respectvely.This means that their teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages are dependent to their age and educatonal undertakings.It can be construed further that students hold their teleologic and anthropomorphic beliefs as they ages but is correctble once exposed to constructve learning environment which reshapes their learning and understanding.These results confrm the assumpton of the study which says that teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages of students are related to their age and educatonal training and exposure.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the foregoing results, the following are concluded: • Newly graduates of high school and the English curriculum had the least afordance of teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages; • teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages are correctble through constructve training and exposure to academic learning environment; • teleologic explanatons and anthropomorphic languages of students are related to their age and educatonal training and exposure.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Estmated Marginal Means of Between-Subjects Efects of Classroom Pedagogical Interventons on the Students' Afordance of Teleologic and Anthropomorphic Language in relaton to their Age and Curricular Exposure

Table 1 .
The General Preconceptons of the Students on Select Concepts in Physics as a Result of their Afordance on Teleologic-Anthropomorphic ReasoningPresented in Table1are the general preconceptons of the student-respondents as a result of their afordance on teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning abilites in elicitng concepts in Physics.

•
It is possible to meaningfully model learners' conceptual structures.Hence, teleologic and anthropomorphic languages are really correctble.

Table 3 .
Tests of Between-Subjects Efects of Classroom Pedagogical Interventons on the Students' Afordance of Teleologic and Anthropomorphic Language in relaton to their Age bracket and Curricular ExposurePresented in the foregoing table are the tests of between-subjects efects of classroom pedagogical interventons on the students' afordance of teleologic and anthropomorphic languages in elicitng concepts of Physics.

Table 4 .
The Atributon of the Students' Teleologic Explanatons and Anthropomorphic Languages to their Age and Curricular Undertakings