Abstract
Research on students' preconceptions is currently focused mainly on issues in the field of science education. In this study, attention was paid to pupils' preconceptions toward intellectual disability, i.e. questions that specifically relate to special education topics.
The purpose of this study was to assess the level of preconceptions of intellectual disability among pupils in primary and lower secondary schools. Transverse, quantitatively oriented research has been conducted with pupils from 5 and 9 grades.
The research sample consisted of 235 respondents from five elementary schools in the Central Bohemia Region. Research instrument was a questionnaire designed on the principle of interval scales.
To assess the level of cognitive dimension of pupils' preconceptions were included in the questionnaire and test items. Use descriptive and inductive methods of statistical analysis confirmed the hypothesis that the concepts of intellectual disability in primary school pupils are significantly more burdened misconception than the concepts of students in lower secondary schools (both in the cognitive dimension and the affective dimension).
The research findings pointed out the reluctance of other pupils in the 5th grades of education with students with intellectual disabilities. These findings may be compared with the results of other studies (e.g.
Magiati, 2002) and can become an inspiration for others, research-oriented studies.