EFFECT OF EPISTEMOLOGY BELIEF ON PRE SERVICE TEACHERS ACHIEVEMENT MISCONCEPTION IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
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EFFECT OF EPISTEMOLOGY BELIEF ON PRE SERVICE TEACHERS ACHIEVEMENT MISCONCEPTION IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
EFFECT OF EPISTEMOLOGY BELIEF ON PRE SERVICE TEACHERS ACHIEVEMENT MISCONCEPTION IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the senior secondary school
student’s misconceptions in Physics in various Local Government Area of Lagos
state. The major misconceptions were outlined and the hypotheses were tested at
0.05 level of significance using gender, age and cultural as moderator
variable. Three hundred (300) SSS III Physics students were randomly selected
from Eight (8) Senior Secondary Schools purposively selected from four (4)
various Local Government Area of Lagos which constituted the sample of the study.
Fifty (50) items test questions on misconception of students in Physics which
was the instruments used in collecting data. The instruments were subjected to
face, content and empirical validations. The data collected were analyzed using
Pearson moment correlation, T-test. The results of the study showed a positive
significant relationship between students ‘gender and misconception in physics.
Other findings of the study are: there was significant relationship between the
cultural background of student and misconception in Physics. There was no
significant relationship between the students’ age and misconception in
physics. The researcher recommended that for students’ understanding of basic
concepts in Physics, attention should be focused on enhancing the students’
understanding by providing adequate competent teachers and environmental
factors; since students cultural background is an important variable in
achievement.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The major concepts which underline and unify the topics in
the SSS physics curriculum content are motion and energy. Relevance of the
topics to society in terms of application is stressed throughout. Only the
topics which are directly derivable from the concepts and their sub concepts
were selected. Generally, the approach in the curriculum is to treat the topics
under a unifying concept in a general form and provide some elaboration in the
applications in order to advocate relevance and use copious illustration to aid
understanding.
Research on physics learning has revealed that students come
to their physics course with already ideas about the world that differ from
accepted scientific ideas. This initial common sense will be used to refer to
misconception. There is a research which showed that it is difficult for
students to change their initial common sense (McDermott,1990) because their
own believes are grounded in long personal experience. Changing initial ideas
of students is often difficult. It is necessary to connect the new knowledge
with their existing knowledge structure.
The effectiveness of introductory physics instruction is
important to improve student attitudes toward an understanding of scientific
process; for example, improve ability in quantitative problem solving, improve
students’ laboratory skill, improve students’ understanding of physics
concepts, and reasoning skill. Some scientific explanation of physical
phenomena often differs from the intuitive ideas or existing conceptual
structures. How physics is learned and designing more effective approaches to
teach physics will be our ultimate goal.
One of difficult topics in teaching physics is electricity
and magnetism students often have difficulty in understanding electricity and
magnetism because it is the abstract nature of the subject which is difficult
to visualize and the mathematical relationships can be complex. Electricity and
magnetism is seen as a central area of physics curricula at all level of
education, primary, secondary and tertiary. Students’ understanding of concept
in electricity and magnetism has not been investigated in as great detail as in
mechanics. Some research showed that teaching methods can be developed to
change students’ ideas in electricity and magnetism with scientific model like conceptual
conflict and analogies (Driver et al.1994).
Over the last 20 years, physics education research has
revealed that students already have a number of ideas about how physical
systems behave even before they start to study physics. In many cases these
ideas often called alternative conceptions or common sense science differ from
accepted scientific ideas. Other research has shown that it is difficult for
students to change their initial ideas.
The development and extensive use of the Force Concept Inventory
(FCI) conceptual test concerning some basic kinematics and Newton’s three laws
has raised the consciousness of many physics teachers about the effectiveness
of traditional education. Many physics instructors have expressed an interest
in assessing students’ knowledge of electricity and magnetism. However,
developing an instrument to assess students’ ideas in electricity and magnetism
is a very different task than development of the FCI.
Student’s preconceptions in science have since aroused science
educators’ interest for over 30years because of the principle idea of
constructivist learning theory, which was stated as “students come to the
learning environment with the preconceptions, which were formed during their
interactions within physical and social environment and those preconceptions
affect learning” (Pfundt and Duit, 2006). The main interest of studies focus on
those preconceptions of which especially contradict with scientific knowledge
and create problems in learning. In this study, the notion of misconception was
used for such preconceptions. Research carried out resulted with some findings
about the main features of misconceptions. These findings are listed below
(Driver and Bell, 1986; Driver, 1989; Mutimucuio, 1998; Widodo et al., 2002;
Tyler, 2002).
•
Misconceptions of students who have different culture, religion and
language are frequently similar to each other.
•
Misconceptions may deeply penetrate into students’ minds and resist to
change.
• Everyday language,
culture and religion can cause the formation of misconceptions.
• Misconceptions
can be parallel to the explanations made by earlier scientists in interpreting
scientific phenomena.
Misconceptions may develop after a formal teaching. Many
researchers came up with the same findings during the investigation of
students’ misconceptions about simple electric circuits (Osborne, 1983; Cohen
at al., 1982; Tiberghien, 1983; Shipstone, 1984; Kärrqvist, 1985; Shipstone et
al., 1988; McDermott and Shafer, 1992; Barges et al., 1999; Lee and Law, 2001;
Küçüközer, 2003).
The most frequently encountered findings are given below:
• The concepts of current, energy and potential difference
are not respected as different concepts and used interchangeably with each
other.
• Current is consumed by circuit components.
• Current comes out from the (+) pole of the battery and
enters to the bulb where it is consumed to light the bulb which is not affected
by the second wire connected between the (-) pole and itself.
• Current comes out from the both poles of the battery and
clashes in the bulb to light it.
• Current is divided equally in each line of the parallel
circuits.
• Positively charged object have gained protons, rather than
being deficient in electron.
• A change before the bulb affects the brightness of the
bulb in circuit connected in series but the same bulb is not affect by change
in anywhere of the circuit after the bulb.
• Batteries are constant current sources.
Misconceptions outlined above were reported in studies
conducted with students in different countries and with different age groups.
Shipstone et al.’s (1988) study is an important research, which summarizes that
students in five European countries also have similar misconceptions about
simple electric circuits.
The misconception of “current is consumed by circuit
components” which is listed above is almost reported in all studies about
electric circuits. Students sometimes may have misconceptions stemming from the
use of everyday language (Gilbert et al., 1982; Leach and Scott, 2003). Gilbert
et al. (1982)
The misconception of senior secondary student in physics can
also be linked to the teacher’s methods of imparting and evaluating physics in
classrooms, the teacher’s method of imparting and evaluating physics is a major
cause of misconception among senior secondary school student in Nigeria.
1.2 PROBLEMS OF
TEACHING PHYSICS IN NIGERIA SECONDARY SCHOOL
A number of deep-rooted issues has been identified which are
peculiar to physics subject in senior secondary schools and needs to be
addressed. These problems, common to senior secondary schools are:
- Inadequacy of materials and personnel with respect to
teaching the subject.
- Lack of laboratories
and Equipment
Inability of the teachers to impact the subject to the
student s, which might be due to the problem of teachers’ qualification and
effectiveness.
- The overloading of West African examination council
syllabus.
- Shortages in the supply of physics teachers and poor
environments in which physics practical are taught.
- The ability of this subject to inspire and interest pupils,
particularly girls; and other factors such as careers advice which affect
pupils’ desire to study physics at higher levels.
- The inflexibility, irrelevance and repetitiveness of the
curriculum;
- The lack of engagement in debate and quiz in this subject.
The limitations on practical and fieldwork
The low educational value of coursework
Non implementation of ICT in science teaching.
- The
shortage of qualified science teachers is a well-known problem. The increasing
demand for science graduates in other more lucrative sectors and the decreasing
number of graduates in these subjects means that we are caught in a seemingly
endless cycle of decline in specialist science teachers
- Insufficient
account taken of pupils' previous learning and attainment, including what they
had already learned in primary school;
- Some tasks set
for pupils were either too difficult for them or insufficiently challenging.
- Insufficiently
high teacher expectations of the pace of pupils' learning and of the quality of
presentation of their written work.
1.3 STUDENT
PERFORMANCES IN PHYSICS
Performances of students at the senior secondary school
level have been the concern of government and parents. The performance of
student in physics has deteriorated for the past few decades due to certain
factors, which are:
Teacher’s deficiency in various contents they teach which
affect the quality of learning and performance of the student.
The effects of laboratory facilities and resources also have
a major influence on the performance of students in physics at this level.
Student’s interest and achievement in Physics at secondary
school level lie within the teacher and students’ relationship in a given
subject.
Girls and women may be regarded as late arrivals in the
scene of science in Nigeria. There is a significant differences in performance
of male and female students in Physics
Historically, Physics has been taught at the highschool and
college level primarily by the lecture method together with laboratory
exercise aimed at verifying concepts taught.
1.4 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
The issue of misconception in physics in senior secondary
schools is a major problem that befalls the educational sector.
Yearly, students record massive failure in physics
especially in the West African secondary school certificate exam (WASSCE) and
the newly introduced National Examination Council(NECO) Examination.
New effective methods of teaching and learning physics needs
to be designed to curb misconception of students in physics and to improve the
academic achievement of students in senior secondary schools.
Recognizing effective method of teaching and learning, if
considered can improve the level of academic achievement of students in senior
secondary schools physics. The study is aimed at identifying effects of these
methods on academic performance of students and also to determine the extent to
which the methods can modify or change students’ academic performance in
physics.
1.5 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The general focus point of this research study is to make an
inquiry into senior secondary school misconception in physics. However, this
study is set out to achieve certain objectives, which is the main purpose why
this research work is embarked upon. The purpose of the study are as follows;
1. To outline the
major misconceptions of student in physics.
2. To determine
the difference between misconception of male students in physics and female
student in physics.
3. To determine
if the misconception of student in physics is dependent on student cultural
background.
4. To determine
the relationship of age and misconceptions of students in physics.
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTION:
1. What are the
major misconceptions of students in physics?
2. Is there
difference between the misconception of male and female students in physics?
3. What is the
relationship between the misconceptions of students’ in physics and their
cultural background?
4. What is the
relationship of age and students’ misconception in physics?
1.7 RESEARCH
HYPOTHESES
HYPOTHESIS 1
H01: There is no significant difference between the
misconceptions of male and female students in physics.
HYPOTHESIS 2
H02: There is no significant relationship between cultural
background and misconceptions of students in physics.
HYPOTHESIS 3
H03: There is no significant relationship between student’s
age and misconceptions in physics.
1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The significance of this study cannot be under estimated or
over emphasized. Firstly, this study tends add to the body of general knowledge
and existing research of the subject inquiry. Secondly, this study emphasizes
the urgent need to vigorously examine the misconceptions of senior secondary
school students in science (physics). This will not only help to curb the
general misconceptions in senior secondary school, it will also enhance and
improve the student knowledge and skills in the area of science (physics) as
well as related subjects. Furthermore, this study stresses the need to
implement the national policies that will aid the training of specialized and
qualified teachers in the area of science development in Nigeria. This will
further strengthen and increase the nation’s status in terms of science
development within the global world as well as enhance the adoption of
scientific application in all works of life socially, politically and
economically.
1.9 SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of study will cover senior secondary school
student, specifically senior secondary students within the various Local
Government Area of Lagos State. This study is limited to senior secondary
students only due to speculated and limited time frame this study is expected
to be carried out.
1.10 DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGIES
Terms and concepts are very central to the understanding of
any scientific research. More so, it is imperative to give operational
definitions that will be used for the study. This will help make the study
explicit and at the same time give the reader a thorough understanding of the
central terms concept used in the study.
SCIENCE: is a systematic enterprise that builds and
organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanation prediction about the
universe.
MISCONCEPTION: a view or opinion that is incorrect based on
faulty thinking or understanding.
LEARNING: Is a process of acquiring new, or modifying
existing, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preference and may involve
synthesizing different types of information (Sandman et al, 2000). For the
purpose of this study learning will be restricted to the development of
science.
SSS: senior secondary schools.
EFFECT OF EPISTEMOLOGY BELIEF ON PRE SERVICE TEACHERS ACHIEVEMENT MISCONCEPTION IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
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EFFECT OF EPISTEMOLOGY BELIEF ON PRE SERVICE TEACHERS ACHIEVEMENT MISCONCEPTION IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS