COMPLEXITY IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WHEN HANDICAPPED WITH MISCONCEPTIONS

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COMPLEXITY IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WHEN
HANDICAPPED WITH MISCONCEPTIONS

• Sam Ramaila, Padmanabhan Nair and Leelakrishna
  Reddy
• Department of Physics
• University of Johannesburg
• South Africa

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OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Literature Review
• 3. Purpose of the Research Study
• 4. Research Question
• 5. Significance of the Research Study
• 6. Research Methodology
• 7. Research Design
• 8. Conceptual Areas Investigated
• 9. Remedial Tools Intervention
• 10. Summary of Results
• 11. Conclusion and Recommendations

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Introduction

• Prevalence of physics misconceptions at all
  levels of Physics Education.
• Tremendous amount of research had been carried
  out all over the world.
• Some higher education institutions in South
  Africa Key research focus area.
• Exploring complexity in science education.

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Literature Review

• Learners conceptual deficiencies in physics
  Contributory factors
• Under-performing school system.
• Under-qualified/unqualified teachers.
• Teaching physics like humanities.
• Lack of facilities for practical experience.
• Absence of interactive learning.
• Undesirable philosophy of teaching physics to
  pass exam.

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PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

• To explore the effectiveness of remedial tools
  such as audio-visual intervention in addressing
  misconceptions in physics and overcoming
  complexities in learning.

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Research Question

• To what extent can misconceptions affect learner
  performance in first year university physics
  courses?

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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

• Provides valuable insights into underlying
  conceptual difficulties in Electrostatics.
• Electrostatics provides a conceptual foundation
  for meaningful understanding of other important
  topics in physics.
• Serves as a frame of reference for other
  researchers.
• Complement research initiatives in the field of
  CSER.

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Research Methodology

• Degree of misconceptions in Electrostatics as a
  test case.
• Pre-test Conceptual Survey in Electricity (CSE).
• Identification of extreme conceptual
  difficulties.
• Intervention Audio-Visual Lessons.
• Post-test Conceptual Survey in Electricity
  (CSE).
• Correlation between learner performance in Class
  Tests, Pre-test Post-test.
• Examine any positive or negative shift.

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Research Design
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CONCEPTUAL AREAS INVESTIGATED
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Scores from Students responses
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INTERVENTION AUDIO-VISUAL LESSONS

• Electrostatic charging
• Van de Graaf Generator
• Electroscope
• Application

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EFFECT OF INTERVENTION
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SIMILAR RESEARCHMaloney et al. (2001)
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CORRELATION BETWEEN CLASS TEST, PRE-TEST AND
POST-TEST SCORES
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• Correlation evident.
• lower the score in pre-test, the lower the
  achievement level in the class-test.
• Example Access group Lowest score in the
  pre-test and the corresponding lowest score in
  class-test.
• Access Group and Chiropractic/Homoeopathy Group
  Positive shift.
• Optometry Group Negative shift (Absence of few
  learners during the post-test stage).

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PHYSICS MAJOR-FIRST YEARUNIVERSITY OF
LIMPOPOSOUTH AFRICA
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CONCLUSION

• Complex picture about student conceptual
  knowledge of static electricity.
• Traditional instruction less effective.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Effectiveness of alternative interactive remedial
  tools such as oral interventions, group
  discussions, etc. could also be explored as an
  extension to this study.

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Sincere thanks