Investigating Primary and Secondary Students’ Learning of Physics Concepts in Taiwan

Chang, Huey‐Por; Chen, Junyi; Guo, Chorng-Jee; Chen, Chung‐Chih; Chang, Ching-Yi; Lin, Shean-Huei; Su, Wei‐Jou; Lain, Kuen-Der; Hsu, Shun‐Yi; Lin, Jang‐Long; Chen, Chin‐Chang; Cheng, Yi‐Ting; Wang, Loung‐Shyi; Tseng, Yaw‐Teng

doi:10.1080/09500690601073210

Cited by 51 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Again, this likely comes from prior beliefs that bigger equals faster and stronger. It is this strongly held prior belief, based on personal experience of phenomena and informal knowledge, which potentially influenced the children's understanding and scientific concept development concerning gear configuration and mechanical advantage (Driver, Asoko, Leach, Mortimer & Scott, 1994;Chang et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing conceptual understanding of mechanical advantage through the use of Lego robotic technology

Chambers

Carbonaro

Murray³

2008

AJET

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Science educators advocate hands on experiences and the use of manipulatives as important for children's conceptual development. Consequently, the utilisation of Lego robotic technologies in teaching and learning has become more prevalent in school science classrooms. It is important to investigate their value as educational tools, particularly their role in helping children develop conceptual understanding of scientific principles. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of robotic technology with elementary age children, specifically focusing on the children's conceptual development concerning gear function and mechanical advantage. Our results indicate the robot sessions helped develop the students' understanding of gear function in relation to direction of turning, relative speed, and number of revolutions. However, when we examine the children's understanding around the concept of mechanical advantage, we still see the majority of children unable to provide an accurate explanation. The children had difficulty explaining the reasons underpinning their gear arrangement choices for making their robots fast or powerful. The results suggest that providing students with physical experiences is not enough for students to "discover" the relationship of gears to a vehicle's power and speed. A guided inquiry instructional approach is important during the early stages of developing a conceptual understanding of mechanical advantage. IntroductionRooted in constructivist theories of learning, science educators advocate hands on experiences and the use of manipulatives as important for children's conceptual development. In concert with this notion, the use of simple robotic building technologies (e.g. LEGO Mindstorms) in teaching and learning has become more prevalent in school science and technology classrooms. It is important to investigate their value as educational tools, particularly their role in helping children develop conceptual understanding of scientific principles. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of robotic building technology with elementary age children, specifically focusing on the children's conceptual development about gears in a problem solving context. Children in a Year four classroom (8 to 9 years of age) were asked to build a LEGO Mindstorms robot and, through manipulation of the gear configuration, to examine the function of gears with respect to: a) direction of turning, b) relative speed, c) the number of revolutions, and d) mechanical advantages concerning the principles of power and speed. Of particular interest, and the focus for this paper, is the children's conceptual development and understanding concerning

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing conceptual understanding of mechanical advantage through the use of Lego robotic technology

Chambers

Carbonaro

Murray³

2008

AJET

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“…For the former, each student was asked to provide an explanation using his/her model of sound. This was in keeping with the technique used by Hrepic (1999) and with two-tier questionnaires (Chang et al 2007), since, in both these studies and others (e.g. Hrepic 2004;Hrepic et al 2010), this method has proved to provide concrete and useful information.…”

Section: Methodology: Questionnaire Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This must be taken into account when one is planning and implementing learning activities aimed at the acquisition of scientifically accepted knowledge. Indeed, many cognitive psychologists and constructivists have stated that people construct new knowledge based on what they already know and believe, even if parts of this knowledge and understanding, which we shall call 'prior ideas' or 'misconceptions', are not consistent with scientific conceptions Chang et al 2007;Eshach and Schwartz 2006;Wittmann et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Misconceptions About Sound Among Engineering Students

2011

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Our first objective was to detect misconceptions about the microscopic nature of sound among senior university students enrolled in different engineering programmes (from chemistry to telecommunications). We sought to determine how these misconceptions are expressed (qualitative aspect) and, only very secondarily, to gain a general idea of the extent to which they are held (quantitative aspect). Our second objective was to explore other misconceptions about wave aspects of sound. We have also considered the degree of consistency in the model of sound used by each student. Forty students answered a questionnaire including open-ended questions. Based on their free, spontaneous answers, the main results were as follows: a large majority of students answered most of the questions regarding the microscopic model of sound according to the scientifically accepted model; however, only a small number answered consistently. The main model misconception found was the notion that sound is propagated through the travelling of air particles, even in solids. Misconceptions and mental-model inconsistencies tended to depend on the engineering programme in which the student was enrolled. However, students in general were inconsistent also in applying their model of sound to individual sound properties. The main conclusion is that our students have not truly internalised the scientifically accepted model that they have allegedly learnt. This implies a need to design learning activities that take these findings into account in order to be truly efficient.

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“…Parker (2006) menunjukkan cara bagaimana meningkatkan penguasaan konten cahaya dan pembentukan bayangan yang dimiliki oleh guru IPA yang mengikuti pelatihan dalam meningkatkan pemahamannya dengan menggunakan konflik kognitif. Chang, dkk (2007) menyimpulkan adanya miskonsepsi yang dimiliki siswa sekolah lanjutan terkait pembentukan bayangan oleh lensa dan cermin. Buty dan Mortimer (2008) menemukan adanya kesulitan dalam melakukan pembelajaran optika di kelas pada bagian dialog selama proses interaksi pembelajaran.…”

Section: Pendahuluanunclassified

Penilaian Pemahaman Representasi Grafik Materi Optika Geometri Menggunakan Tes Diagnostik

Bunawan¹,

Setiawan²,

Rusli³

et al. 2015

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Abstrak: Tujuan penelitian adalah mengembangkan dan menerapkan tes diagnostik pilihan ganda tiga tingkat untuk mengukur pemahaman representasi grafik mahasiswa terkait esensi inkuiri sains dan materi optika geometri. Penelitian menggunakan metode campuran melibatkan 83 mahasiswa calon guru fisika di satu LPTK Sumatera Utara. Instrumen tes diagnostik terlebih dahulu didesain kemudian disempurnakan selama proses, direvisi, dan digunakan untuk mendeteksi dan menilai pemahaman representasi grafik mahasiswa calon guru fisika. Instrumen tes telah dikembangkan untuk dapat mendiagnosis dan memperbaiki kesalahan-kesalahan yang dilakukan calon guru fisika terkait dengan keterampilan mengonstruk grafik, menemukan kesulitan-kesulitan dalam membaca dan menginterpretasi grafik. Analisis data dilakukan secara kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Hasil studi menunjukkan pembacaan grafik dan keterampilan menginterpretasi grafik calon guru fisika masih belum memadai dan juga kemahiran dalam menganalisis grafik bergantung pada jenis grafik dan level atau tipe pertanyaan yang dikembangkan. Kata Kunci: representasi grafik, optik geometri, diagnostik tes ASSESSING OF UNDERSTANDING GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION CONTENT GEOMETRICAL OPTIC USING DIAGNOSTIC TESTAbstract: The purpose of this study is to develop and apply three tier multiple choice diagnostic test to measure student's understanding of graphical representation about essential features of inquiry and content geometrical optic. The study was conducted using mixed methods and carried out with 83 prephysics teachers at a University of Teachers Education in North Sumatera. The diagnostic instrument was designed and then progressively refined, revised, and implemented to detect and assess student's understanding of graphical representation. Test instrument was developed to diagnose and correct the mistakes made by pre-service physics teachers about construction graphic skills, difficulties in the reading and interpretation graphical representation. The results of this study showed that graph reading and interpretation skills of pre service teachers were inadequate and also their graphing analysis varies depending on the type of graph and level type of question was developed.

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Investigating Primary and Secondary Students’ Learning of Physics Concepts in Taiwan

Cited by 51 publications

References 27 publications

Developing conceptual understanding of mechanical advantage through the use of Lego robotic technology

Developing conceptual understanding of mechanical advantage through the use of Lego robotic technology

Misconceptions About Sound Among Engineering Students

Penilaian Pemahaman Representasi Grafik Materi Optika Geometri Menggunakan Tes Diagnostik

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