Accurate Items for Inaccurate Conceptions in Undergraduate Physics Students

Author(s):  
Eder Hernandez ◽  
Genaro Zavala

Generating a concept inventory for a specific student sample is a task that, if completed successfully, could help the instructor have a better approach to what students think at the time they are taking a test. This allows the instructor to observe which concepts the students are struggling with the most, and make the necessary adjustments for that current group, or for future ones. This investigation aims to analyze and classify the electrostatic items of the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) in order to decide which items are useful and which ought to be modified. By performing a psychometric analysis on each of these items, mostly based on the Item Response Curve's (IRC) graphs' evaluation, this study will target and determine the items that fit the best for the students enrolled in the Electricity and Magnetism undergraduate course at a private university in the north of Mexico.

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Agnes Mbonyiryivuze

We investigate students’ misconceptions in electrostatics, direct current (DC) and magnetism which are important in electricity and magnetism. We developed and administered a multiple-choice questionnaire test to reveal students’ misconceptions related to charged bodies, lightning, electric fields, electric potential, forces, DC resistive electric circuits and magnets. This test aimed at obtaining quantitative information about misconceptions and was administered to 380 senior two students from Nine Year Basic Education (9YBE) Schools. The selected students have some experience with the new Rwandan secondary physics Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) that is currently under implementation. We find that senior two students have several common misconceptions related to these concepts. The data indicate that although students have some backgrounds on the subject matter, they still seem to believe that if the two charges are separated by a distance, a large-charged object exerts a greater force of attraction or repulsion on the small one. Considerable number of participated students held the misconception of considering current consumption in the resistor/bulb or the electrical devices in the circuits. They also believed that the battery was a continuous current source. The findings also revealed that students held a misconception that a bar magnet when broken into pieces, it is demagnetized. Moreover, a considerable number of participants hold the misconception that all metals are attracted by a magnet. Our study also revealed some of the statistically significant differences in terms of either gender or location of schools for some items.


Author(s):  
Jim Gleason ◽  
Spencer Bagley ◽  
Matthew Thomas ◽  
Lisa Rice ◽  
Diana White

Author(s):  
Silvia de Melo Cunha ◽  
Ana Maria Fontenelle Catrib ◽  
Aline Veras Morais Brilhante ◽  
Elaine Saraiva Feitosa ◽  
Maria Amélia Duarte Ferreira

Abstract: Introduction: The definition of a professional career represents the adolescent’s first major decision and, in general, it occurs in a context of indecision, conflicts and transformations, typical of this stage of life. Objective: To understand the motivations that lead adolescents to choose a medical career in Brazil and in Portugal. Method: Exploratory study with a qualitative approach, which used open interviews. The participants were 17 Portuguese and 14 Brazilian freshman medical students attending a public university in the north of Portugal and a private university in the northeast of Brazil in 2018. Bardin’s Content Analysis was used for the analysis and interpretation of the speeches, using the thematic modality. Result: Two thematic modalities were identified: intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and six cores of meaning: willingness to help others, natural tendency, Medicine as a science, interest in research, influence of models, professional stability/social status. Conclusion: Adolescent freshman medical students in Brazil and Portugal showed similar motivations for their professional choice. Intrinsic motivations predominated and the willingness to help others was the most frequent reason for choosing the medical course in both countries.


Author(s):  
Creuza Martins França ◽  
Juliana Irani Villanueva dos Reis

Este trabalho aborda os processos de comunicação e interatividade promovidos por docentes na produção de aulas virtuais em Ambiente Virtual de Ensino e Aprendizagem AVEA. Parte do seguinte questionamento: de que forma são trabalhadas as produções textuais dos professores da Educação a distância - EaD? Essa questão é relevante, pois quando são utilizadas técnicas que privilegiam a interação participativa do aluno, a construção do conhecimento passa a ser mais efetiva. Sendo assim, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo apresentar intervenções didáticas possíveis, nas quais a comunicação seja apontada como parte do processo da mediação da aprendizagem e o uso da tecnologia aconteça a partir de estratégias voltadas à apropriação do conhecimento. Para tanto, utilizou-se a pesquisa bibliográfica e a análise das produções dos materiais web elaborados pelos professores, atuantes em uma universidade particular de um município da Região Norte do Paraná. A análise dos dados coletados demonstrou que, apesar dos docentes considerarem-se preparados para o uso das tecnologias, suas práticas revelam que não estão ocorrendo mudanças na forma como lidam com a EaD. A partir dos resultados da pesquisa, pretende-se oferecer uma contribuição ao campo da pesquisa no sentido de despertar os professores para a necessidade de se promover discussão sobre a comunicação dialógica. Ora, defende-se que processos interativos de qualidade asseguram maior autonomia aos alunos durante o estudo. Palavras-chave: EaD. Tecnologias Educacionais. Comunicação e Interatividade. Ensino e Aprendizagem. AbstractThis paper presents the communication and interaction processes promoted by Teachers in the virtual classes production in Virtual Learning and Teaching Environment. The process of this research is: How are Teachers’ Learning distance mode’s textual productions worked? This question is relevant because when techniques are used that emphasize participatory student interaction, the knowledge construction becomes more effective. Thus, this study aimed to elucidate possible educational interventions, where communication is indicated as part of the learning mediation process and the technology use for strategies aimed at knowledge appropriation. For this purpose, it was used search literature and analysis of the web materials production prepared by Teachers acting in a private university in a city in the North of Paraná. From this, the data analysis showed that despite the teachers consider themselves prepared for the use of technologies, such actions do not really materialize in changes in the way of dealing with distance education. Based on the results, it was intended to offer a contribution to the research field and the need to promote discussion aboutdialogical communication, in order to create greater autonomy in studies by the students through interactive quality processes. Keywords: Learning Distance. Technologies Educational. Communication and Interactivity. Teaching and Learning.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. ar64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven T. Kalinowski ◽  
Mary J. Leonard ◽  
Mark L. Taper

We developed and validated the Conceptual Assessment of Natural Selection (CANS), a multiple-choice test designed to assess how well college students understand the central principles of natural selection. The expert panel that reviewed the CANS concluded its questions were relevant to natural selection and generally did a good job sampling the specific concepts they were intended to assess. Student interviews confirmed questions on the CANS provided accurate reflections of how students think about natural selection. And, finally, statistical analysis of student responses using item response theory showed that the CANS did a very good job of estimating how well students understood natural selection. The empirical reliability of the CANS was substantially higher than the Force Concept Inventory, a highly regarded test in physics that has a similar purpose.


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