Using circuit and wiring diagrams to identify students' preconceived ideas about basic electric circuits

Mackay, James; Hobden, Paul

doi:10.1080/10288457.2012.10740735

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Nkopane, Kriek, Basson, and Lemmer (2011) concluded that additional factors, including teachers' poor understanding of learners' pre-existing knowledge, contributed to South African learners' misconceptions. Recently, Mackay and Hobden (2012) reported that learners' circuit and wiring diagrams are useful to gain insight into their misconceptions regarding basic circuit electricity. Morrison and Lederman (2003) argued that teachers need adequate understanding of preconceptions in order to support their learners.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Questions about Answers: Probing Teachers' Awareness and Planned Remediation of Learners' Misconceptions about Electric Circuits

Gaigher

2014

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technol

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This article reports an exploratory multi-case study on how science teachers understand and envisage addressing learners' misconceptions about electric circuits. Four teachers from schools in and around a large South African city participated in the study. An open-ended questionnaire was designed in a novel way, questioning teachers about wrong answers they expected from their learners in test items suitable for Grade 9. Semi-structured interviews supported the questionnaire results, providing insight into the teachers' understanding of learners' misconceptions, and their ideas about how learners' misconceptions should be addressed. Two of the teachers showed insight into learners' conceptual difficulties, reflecting on learners' thinking. Another teacher indicated some typical wrong answers but seldom understood the misconceptions leading to these mistakes, while the remaining teacher did not expect typical wrong answers corresponding to well-known misconceptions. All the teachers indicated that they would address learners' mistakes mostly by practical work or demonstrations, but only two of the teachers also referred to the importance of developing conceptual understanding. Results suggest that these teachers' understanding of learners' misconceptions relates to their own subject matter knowledge. Furthermore, the study showed that the technique of questioning teachers about anticipated learners' answers is a promising way of probing teachers' understanding of learners' misconceptions and the strategies they envisage using to address these misconceptions. It is recommended that learners' misconceptions be addressed explicitly in teacher preparation and professional development programmes as an avenue to develop teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Questions about Answers: Probing Teachers' Awareness and Planned Remediation of Learners' Misconceptions about Electric Circuits

Gaigher

2014

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technol

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“…The data collecting uses a paper-pencil questionnaire, as presented in the annex. The questions were constructed on the basis of studies done by various researchers: Jabot & Henry (2007), Mackay & Hobden (2012); Osborne (1981;1983), Russel (1980), Sarrazin and Genzling (1988), Shipstone (1988), Solomon et al (1985), Tiberghien and Delacôte (1976). The objective of the two first questions was to verify the pupils' notions of a closed circuit.…”

Section: Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptions of pupils of the primary on the topic of an electric circuit in three countries (Canada, France and Morocco)

Métioui

MacWillie

Trudel

2016

EUROPEAN J SCI MATH ED

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Qualitative research conducted with 237 pupils from Canada, France, and Morocco, between 10 and 12 years of age, on the setting and functioning of simple electric circuits, demonstrates that similar explanatory systems of the students. For this, we had given them a paper and pencil questionnaire of a sixty minutes duration. The first question was related to power a light bulb using wires and battery. The second issue was intended to determine whether pupils are conscious of the danger associated with a polarity battery. The third is related to the flow of electric current between the + and -terminals of a battery in an electric circuit. The last question requires an understanding of the law of conservation of the charge in a circuit constituted by a battery and a bulb. This research provides an answer to the question of ethnocentricity and universality of students' conceptions from different cultures and linguistic communities. In this research, the thesis of the universality was establish from the students' responses to a questionnaire.

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“…Although nonsystematic studies have been conducted at the primary level in different countries ( [34]; [35]; [36]; [37]; [38], [39]) they attest to a majority of pupils constructing some conceptions in discontinuity with the scientific views when they are invited to explain the lighting of a bulb with the help of a battery. Their conceptions especially refer to (1) the attenuating model (in which the currents leaves one terminal of the battery and is partially consumed in the bulb, so that a lesser current returns to the battery), (2) the model of antagonistic currents (in which currents circulate towards the bulb from both terminals of the battery and (3) the unipolar model (in which the current leaves from the battery and arrives at the bulb; thus, the wire that goes back toward the battery is considered as superfluous or passive).…”

Section: Studies On Electrical Circuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their conceptions especially refer to (1) the attenuating model (in which the currents leaves one terminal of the battery and is partially consumed in the bulb, so that a lesser current returns to the battery), (2) the model of antagonistic currents (in which currents circulate towards the bulb from both terminals of the battery and (3) the unipolar model (in which the current leaves from the battery and arrives at the bulb; thus, the wire that goes back toward the battery is considered as superfluous or passive). From these studies, it is possible to conclude that there is universality in the conceptions characterized since no cultural reference has been detected in the answers of the pupils coming from South Africa [34], Canada [35], the United States [36], Australia [37], Turkey [38], New Zealand [39] and other countries. However, more research is necessary on the question of universality of conceptions.…”

Section: Studies On Electrical Circuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pupil's Beliefs about the Transformations of Energy in Three Countries (Canada, France and Morocco)

Métioui¹,

MacWillie²

2015

ujer

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A qualitative research approach was chosen to analyse the conceptions of pupils attending elementary school from Canada (N = 135), France (N = 30) and Morocco (N = 92) between 10 and 12 years of age. Their conceptions were identified while being mobilised on energy transformations during the working of a simple electric circuit made of a battery, a bulb and electric wires: light, thermal, electrical and chemical. With paper and pencil, they completed a questionnaire made up of six questions during a forty-five minute period. The analysis of the data of the experimentation demonstrates that the majority of the conceptions identified are naïve compared to those constructed by the scientists. It also shows that their conceptions are similar in spite of the different cultures. The results confirm the findings of the international community of researchers in didactics of sciences regarding the universality of children's conceptions about the working of simple electrical circuits. These findings have implications on teacher training, science teaching and learning in a multiple cultural environment.

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Using circuit and wiring diagrams to identify students' preconceived ideas about basic electric circuits

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Questions about Answers: Probing Teachers' Awareness and Planned Remediation of Learners' Misconceptions about Electric Circuits

Questions about Answers: Probing Teachers' Awareness and Planned Remediation of Learners' Misconceptions about Electric Circuits

Conceptions of pupils of the primary on the topic of an electric circuit in three countries (Canada, France and Morocco)

Pupil's Beliefs about the Transformations of Energy in Three Countries (Canada, France and Morocco)

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