ERIC Number: EJ1203436
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1837-6290
EISSN: N/A
Explaining and Enacting for Conceptual Understanding in Secondary School Physics
Phanphech, Parinda; Tanitteerapan, Tanes; Murphy, Elizabeth
Issues in Educational Research, v29 n1 p180-204 2019
This paper reports on a study of pedagogical strategies for promoting conceptual understanding by reducing misconceptions. The case chosen to investigate this phenomenon involved 40 Thai vocational education students studying physics (electric circuits) in secondary school. The study investigated the effect of an explaining strategy on students' understanding. It also investigated the effect of an enacting strategy on students' overall misconceptions with one group (n=20) using an electric circuits board (CB) whilst another group (n=20) used a virtual simulation (VS) of electric circuits. Pre-and post-test results showed significant improvements in understanding. Pre- and post-test results for the 'enacting' strategy comparing the virtual simulation versus the electric circuits board showed significant increases within groups, as well as a significant reduction in misunderstanding for the VS group. However, the overall levels of misunderstanding remained high in spite of the significance of the intervention. This result confirms the characterisation of misconceptions as persistent difficulties. Implications point to the value of combining multiple strategies for conceptual understanding, matching strategies to the context and to the limitations of evaluating conceptual understanding.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Vocational Education, Technical Education, Secondary School Students, Physics, Science Instruction, Secondary School Science, Misconceptions, Pretests Posttests, Equipment, Computer Simulation, Science Experiments
Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. 5/202 Coode Street, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia. e-mail: editor@iier.org.au; Web site: http://www.waier.org.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Thailand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A