Mechanics background influences students’ conceptions in electromagnetism

Galili, Igal

doi:10.1080/0950069950170308

Cited by 89 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This is especially true of basic mechanics, which is considered to be the "cradle" of alternative conceptions because it is close to the students' daily life experiences of motion and forces (Planinic et al, 2006;Ramaila, 2000). Intuitive or alternative conceptions in mechanics require special attention because they are transferred to other physics topics where they create learning problems as well (Galili, 1995). Hasan et al (1999) have defined student misconceptions as 'strongly held cognitive structures that are different from the accepted understanding in a field and that are presumed to interfere with the acquisition of new knowledge'.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confidence versus Performance as an Indicator of the Presence of Alternative Conceptions and Inadequate Problem‐Solving Skills in Mechanics

Potgieter

Malatje²,

Gaigher

et al. 2009

International Journal of Science Education

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This study investigated the use of performance-confidence relationships to signal the presence of alternative conceptions and inadequate problem-solving skills in mechanics. A group of 33 students entering physics at a South African university participated in the project. The test instrument consisted of 20 items derived from existing standardized tests from literature, each of which was followed by a self-reported measure of confidence of students in the correctness of their answers. Data collected for this study included students' responses to multiple-choice questions and open-ended explanations for their chosen answers. Fixed response physics and confidence data were logarithmically transformed according to the Rasch model to linear measures of performance and confidence. The free response explanations were carefully analysed for accuracy of conceptual understanding. Comparison of these results with raw score data and transformed measures of performance and confidence allowed a re-evaluation of the model developed by Hasan, Bagayoko and Kelley in 1999 for the detection of alternative conceptions in mechanics. Application of this model to raw score data leads to inaccurate conclusions. However, application of the Hasan hypothesis to transformed measures of performance and confidence resulted in the accurate identification of items plagued by alternative conceptions. This approach also holds promise for the differentiation between over-confidence due to alternative conceptions or due to inadequate problem-solving skills. It could become a valuable tool for instructional design in mechanics. IntroductionIn order to ensure a smooth transition between secondary and tertiary education, it is imperative for lecturers of physics to be well informed about the baseline knowledge and understanding of students upon entry to tertiary education. Furthermore, where lack of preparedness is identified lecturers should ideally be able to distinguish between a lack of knowledge about specific concepts and the presence of strong alternative conceptions. It is widely accepted that the instructional design for conceptual change of firmly rooted alternative conceptions will differ markedly from that aimed at acquisition of new knowledge or development of problem-solving skills. Hasan, Bagayoko, and Kelley (1999) proposed that a student's self-reported certainty of response could be used in conjunction with the answer to a conceptual test item to differentiate between lack of knowledge and the presence of misconceptions in mechanics. While acknowledging that their hypothesis is best utilised for individual students, they have expanded it for application to groups of students in an attempt to enable the lecturer to extract this information with relative ease for large groups of students. This paper investigated the use of the relationship between confidence and performance to signal not only the presence of alternative conceptions but also inadequate problem-solving skills in mechanics and as such serve as a practitioner's tool in ...

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confidence versus Performance as an Indicator of the Presence of Alternative Conceptions and Inadequate Problem‐Solving Skills in Mechanics

Potgieter

Malatje²,

Gaigher

et al. 2009

International Journal of Science Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although concepts related to this subject are not included in the primary education curriculum in the Turkish Education System, they are in higher levels of secondary education, such as in 11 th grade, and especially in 12 th grade physics, and during one's freshman year in university. There are a few studies in the literature that deal with this subject, with most of them focusing their research on magnetism (Bagno & Eylon, 1997;Finkelstein, 2005;Galili, 1995;Maloney, 1984;Özen & Gürel, 2003;Sağlam, 2003;Sağlam & Millar, 2006). In addition to these studies, Demirci and Çirkinoğlu (2004) revealed a number of misconceptions related to electricity and magnetism held by students after collecting participants' responses to the Electrostatics and Magnetism Concept Test, finding that many students did not have sufficient knowledge about Faraday's Law, Magnetic Induction, or other subjects.…”

Section: Discussion and Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reaching sufficient success is just as important in solving qualitative problems as it is in quantitative problems. Students able to answer questions on the main concepts of physics have been found to experience difficulties answering simple qualitative questions, if they could answer them at all (Galili, 1995).…”

Section: Misconceptions Related To Physics (Electric Current)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining Science Teacher Candidates’ Academic Knowledge and Misconceptions about Electric Current

Çibik¹

2017

EDUC SCI-THEOR PRACT

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The aim of this study is two-fold. Its first aim is to determine science teacher candidates' knowledge (academic success) and misconceptions about electric current and its second aim is to compare these results across participants' year of study and gender. A total of 132 teacher candidates studying in their 2 and semi-structured interview questions were used as data collection tools. The results of the study revealed that while there are no meaningful differences between students' academic success regarding electric current based on their year of study, there are meaningful differences based on the gender of participants, with males scoring more favorably. The findings also revealed that teacher candidates have many misconceptions related especially about to such concepts of current, electric field, generators, supply emf, and potential difference. Furthermore, it was observed that teacher candidates held misconceptions about the function of magnetic fields and energy conversion in electric power-plants, a subject dealt with in the context of alternating current.

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“…Perante esse panorama, recordamos a sugestão de Galili (1995): pode ser valioso considerar a controvérsia histórica ação mediada versus ação à distância para justificar a introdução do conceito de campo. Também é valioso considerá-la para repensar o ensino das interações físicas (ASSIS, 2006;GARDELLI, 2004;ARONS, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

O conceito de campo: polissemia nos manuais, significados na física do passado e da atualidade

Krapas

Silva

2008

Ciênc. educ. (Bauru)

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Resumo: Este trabalho objetiva evidenciar o caráter polissêmico do termo campo em livros didáticos de ensino médio; estudar seus significados em textos históricos; mostrar que a polissemia desse conceito tem raízes nos significados atribuídos tanto no passado como na atualidade. Sob a luz do marco teórico atual da física e de textos históricos, analisaram-se sete manuais de ensino médio em circulação que, quando oportuno, foram cotejados com livros didáticos universitários e manuais antigos. Destacam-se as seguintes atribuições de significado, algumas na forma de definições explícitas, outras implicitamente apresentadas: é espaço; é um vetor; propaga-se, é suporte para a propagação de energia; é curvatura do espaço; armazena energia; interage com partículas, media a interação entre partículas; preenche o espaço. A polissemia pode ser creditada, em parte, à forma velada de introdução da física moderna nos manuais. Faz-se uma tentativa de compreender essa introdução segundo a perspectiva da transposição didática de Chevallard.Palavras-chave: Campo. Polissemia. Livros didáticos. História da ciência.Abstract: This paper aims at: evidencing the polissemic character of the term field within High School textbooks; studying its meanings in historical texts; showing that the roots of such meaning variety are found in both past and present days. Considering as reference the current theoretical mark of Physics and historical texts, seven secondary education manuals were analyzed. When appropriate, such manuals were compared to those found in old education and undergraduate textbooks. Meaning differences could be pointed out, both implicitly and explicitly. Such meanings are: space; vector; something that propagates itself and supports energy propagation; space curvature; energy resevoir; it interacts with particles and mediates their interaction; it fills space. Partly, this polissemy can be credited to the concealed form of introducing Modern Physics in manuals. An attempt is made to understand this introduction in face of Chevallard's didactic transposition.

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Mechanics background influences students’ conceptions in electromagnetism

Cited by 89 publications

References 10 publications

Confidence versus Performance as an Indicator of the Presence of Alternative Conceptions and Inadequate Problem‐Solving Skills in Mechanics

Confidence versus Performance as an Indicator of the Presence of Alternative Conceptions and Inadequate Problem‐Solving Skills in Mechanics

Determining Science Teacher Candidates’ Academic Knowledge and Misconceptions about Electric Current

O conceito de campo: polissemia nos manuais, significados na física do passado e da atualidade

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