First Year Turkish Science Undergraduates’ Understandings and Misconceptions of Light

Abstract

The present study aims to identify first year Turkish Science undergraduates' understandings and misconceptions of the concept of light and its propagation. For this purpose, an instrument composed of four open-ended questions was developed by the researchers. The diagnostic test was piloted with twenty students and modifications were made prior to the final administration of the test. The content validity of the test questions was assessed by two physics researchers and one lecturer. These questions were administered to a hundred first year undergraduates (aged 16-18) enrolled in the Science Teacher Training Department in Ataturk University in Turkey. In addition, the semi-structured interviews of 30-40 min were conducted with the four students whose responses involved common misunderstanding. All interview records were transcribed and analysed. The findings showed that undergraduates' understanding of light is poor and also they have important and prevalent misconceptions. Identified misconceptions, some of which have been reported in the literature, are discussed qualitatively. The misunderstandings identified were compared with those in the literature. The results have some implications for teaching light, suggesting that a substantial revision of teaching strategies is needed.

Recovering Knowledge for Science Education Research: Exploring the “Icarus Effect” in Student Work

“…Forty years of research into students' thinking has led to significant theoretical and practical advances; for example, explicating students difficulties as "alternative conceptions" has underpinned development of tools for identifying conceptions and determining learning outcomes of newly designed instructional approaches (Bektasli, 2013;Francek, 2013;Yalcin, Altun, Turgut, & Aggul, 2009). Several fundamental issues remain subject to considerable debate, including the nature of student conceptions (diSessa, 2006) and the value of notions of alternative conceptions (Clement, Brown, & Zietsman, 1989).…”

Implementing Differentiated Instruction on Pre-Service Physics Teachers: Agendas /Fizik Öğretmen Adaylarına Farklılaştırılmış Öğretimin Uygulanması: Ajandalar).... Doi: 10.14686/buefad.v4i2.5000136908

“…Birçok araştırmacıya göre fizik öğretmeni adayları optik, enerji, kuvvet ve hareket konularında bilgi eksikliğine ya da kavram yanılgılarına sahiptirler (Sahin ve Yagbasan 2012, Bayraktar 2009, İngeç 2009, Yalcin, Altun, Turgut, & Aggül, 2009. Fizik öğretmen adaylarının fakültelerden mezun olmadan ya da göreve başlamadan bu eksikliklerin giderilmesi gerekir.…”

“…According to many researchers, pre-service physics teachers have misconceptions or imperfect knowledge on the subjects of optics, energy, force and motion (Sahin and Yagbasan 2012;Bayraktar 2009;İngec 2009;Yalcin, Altun, Turgut, and Aggül, 2009). Pre-service physics teachers should correct these misconceptions before graduation or starting to teach the physics class.…”

The viewpoints of physics teacher candidates towards the concepts in special theory of relativity and their evaluation designs

“…Modern Physics is a very difficult field due to its abstract structure which is difficult to understand with daily instincts and its heavy mathematical features. Because of that, pedagogical researches to be conducted and giving more prominence to visualization will be more beneficial not only to reveal the conceptual and mathematical difficulties the students meet but also to help the students understand the subjects which they have difficulty in (Yalcin, Altun, Turgut andAggul, 2009, Turgut, Gurbuz andTurgut, 2011). It is a requirement for the teacher candidates to comprehend this subject which they are going to teach all throughout their professional life.…”