Conceptual Difficulties Pre-Service Primary Teachers Have With Static Electricity

Abstract

Static electricity is the introductory chapter to electricity in all high school and university Physics textbooks. The interpretations of static electricity phenomena are not obvious, even in higher education. This research was conducted to identify the major difficulties which pre-service primary teachers encounter in explaining static electricity. They conducted electrostatic experiments focused on different types of electricity, in the context of an Introductory Physics Laboratory Course. The data were collected through the reports they wrote at the end of the course. The qualitative content analysis method was used in order to analyze the data. The sample, which was a convenient one, consisted of 200 pre-service primary teachers, 170 females and 30 males. The analysis showed that pre-service primary teachers have considerable difficulty conceptualizing the microscopic processes – more specifically, charging by induction – that explain these phenomena. The different roles electrons play in conductors and insulators seemed to pose difficulties for pre-service primary teachers. The findings implied an emphasis on microscopic models during macroscopic experimental processes. This could help pre-service primary teachers to understand the role of electrons in conductors and insulators and the different mechanisms involved in different types of charging. Keywords: conceptual difficulties, content analysis, static electricity.

Conceptual Difficulties Encountered By Science Teacher Candidates In Static Electricity

“…It was also observed that these teacher candidates had difficulty associating the atomic structure in electrification with touch and friction. These findings are consistent with the results of the research reported in the literature (Tezcan & Salmaz, 2005;Sarıkaya, 2007;Stefanidou and et al, 2019). It was also observed that the teacher candidates could not attribute their knowledge about the atom to their explanations about electrification by friction and touch.…”

“…This may be evidence that students contribute little to their focus on macroscopic phenomena and their understanding of microscopic procedures. It is also similar to the conclusion presented in the relevant literature (Voutsina & Ravanis, 2011;Dederberg, 2012;Cheng, 2015;Stefanidou et al, 2019) and introduces the electrical curriculum with basic electrical phenomena (electrification by friction, contact, and induction) and microscopic methods to improve students' understanding It is suggested that they should focus on explanatory models.…”

“…This result revealed that the participants perceived electrification as a process that occurs only through friction. Explanations are supporting this finding in the literature (Başer & Geban, 2007;Yıldız, 2011;Stefanidou et al, 2019). However, the results reveal a few teacher candidates encountered difficulties in explaining electrification by friction and touch, mistakenly seeing the transfer of protons or electrons from one object to another as a reason for charging.…”

A Review of Students’ Common Misconceptions in Science and Their Diagnostic Assessment Tools

“…Because of that matter, some researches had been held to provide information about student understanding, especially in learning science concepts. The different insight of student concepts had been defined by a number of terms like "alternative conceptions" (Wandersee et al, 1994), "conceptual difficulties" (Stefanidou et al, 2019), "misconceptions " (Eshach et al, 2018), "mental models" (Wuellner et al, 2017), and others.…”

Exploration Of Students’ Argumentation Skill Assisted Format Representation In Solving Electrical Concept

“…Electrodynamic and electrostatic abstract concepts require some good intuitive and analytical capabilities to be visualized with multiple assistive media (Campos et al, 2019). The discovery of students at the university level in Athens has difficulty describing and analyzing electrostatic vectors of force (Stefanidou. et al, 2019).…”