Naslov
Research on students’ reasoning in electromagnetism

Autori
Jeličić, Katarina : Planinšič, Gorazd ; Planinić, Maja

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
1st South-Eastern European Meeting on Physics Education 2012 - Book of Abstracts / Susman, Katarina - Ljubljana : Univerza v Ljubljani, 2012

Skup
1st South-Eastern European Meeting on Physics Education 2012

Mjesto i datum
Ljubljana, Slovenija, 11.09.2012. - 12.09.2012

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
conceptual understanding, electromagnetism, physics teaching

Sažetak
Many PER studies have shown that students’ understanding of concepts from electricity and magnetism is often inadequate after standard instruction based on lectures. Students are seldom engaged in activities that would allow them to construct deeper understanding of physics concepts. The standard lecture – based teaching may lead to deficiencies in their knowledge structure. The objective of this research was to investigate students’ understanding and conceptual models of several electromagnetic phenomena, formed after standard lecture – based instruction in Croatian high schools. The investigated phenomena included magnetic fields around a steady current-carrying wire and inside coils, force on a current- carrying wire in a uniform magnetic field, electromagnetic induction and Lenz's law. For the purpose of this research, nine Croatian high school students, aged 16-17, were interviewed after they had completed a course on electromagnetism. After having been shown a demonstrational experiment, students were asked to describe what they had observed and whether they could explain their observation. Each student was asked to think aloud, so that their reasoning could be analysed. Students were not corrected if they had arrived at the wrong conclusions. After they had formed their conclusion and stated that they had nothing to add, the interviewer gave them clues in form of additional experiments, as an attempt to create situations for students to test and revise their own ideas. The interviews were recorded with a video camera and transcribed for later analysis. Students seem to have created their own incorrect models of electromagnetic phenomena, even though they had just successfully completed a course on it. They had difficulties in explaining how a magnetic needle works, or why it changes direction when put under a current-carrying wire, and needed to form their own new model of the phenomenon. They were able to regulate, re- evaluate and upgrade their model in a way an expert would do when given clues and asked questions. The results of the research suggest that standard instruction on electromagnetism may be insufficient for students to form correct models of the electromagnetic phenomena and to achieve the correct conceptual understanding.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Fizika, Pedagogija

POVEZANOST RADA