The post-ınstruction conceptions about conservation of mechanical energy: Findings from a survey research with high school and sniversity students
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36681/tused.2022.115Keywords:
Conservation of mechanical energy, Energy analysis, Systems approach, Survey researchAbstract
In this study, our aim was to identify high school and university students’ postinstruction conceptions about the law of conservation of mechanical energy (LCME). A cross-sectional survey design was used. Firstly, a test consisting of 14 multiple-choice questions was developed. 23 physics teachers analysed the test and concluded that our questions are useful for measuring understanding about the LCME. Next, the test was administered to a convenient sample of high school and university students who had already received conventional instruction about the energy concept. The sample consisted of 138 students from the University of Zagreb (Croatia), and 115 high school students from two different schools in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). While the distribution of item difficulties was good, the reliability of test scores proved to be barely acceptable. Therefore, we primarily focused on analysing how frequently the students chose the individual distractors and drew corresponding conclusions about students’ conceptions. It has been shown that many students associate conservation of mechanical energy with certain surface features of physical problems (e.g., “pulley problems”), instead of reasoning about the processes a chosen system undergoes over time. Students often believe that mechanical energy is conserved even for phenomena in which air resistance cannot be neglected. Similarly, they sometimes do not recognize that most collisions of everyday objects necessarily include the conversion of mechanical energy into thermal energy. We could conclude that many students from all educational levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia still fail to apply a system-based approach to energy analysis.
Downloads
References
Abasbegović, N., & Musemić, R. (2012). Fizika za 1. razred gimnazije [Physics textbook for the 1st year of secondary school]. Svjetlost.
Bowling, A. (2005). Techniques of questionnaire design. In A. Bowling & S. Ebrahim (Eds.), Handbook of health research methods: Investigation, measurement and analysis (pp. 394-428). Open University Press.
Bryce, T. G. K., & MacMillan, K. (2009). Momentum and kinetic energy: Confusable concepts in secondary school physics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching: The Official Journal of the
National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 46(7), 739-761. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20274
Catrambone, R., & Holyoak, K. J. (1989). Overcoming contextual limitations on problem-solving transfer. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(6), 1147.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.15.6.1147
Chen, R. F., Eisenkraft, A., Fortus, D., Krajcik, J., Neumann, K., Nordine, J., & Scheff, A. (Eds.). (2014).
Teaching and learning of energy in K-12 education. Springer International Publishing.
Chen, Q., Zhu, G., Liu, Q., Han, J., Fu, Z., & Bao, L. (2020). Development of a multiple-choice problemsolving categorization test for assessment of student knowledge structure. Physical Review
Physics Education Research, 16(2), 020120. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020120
Chi, M. T., Feltovich, P. J., & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive science, 5(2), 121-152. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog0502_2
Cohen R. & Swerdlik M. (2010). Psychological testing and assessment. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Čolić, A. (2001). Fizika za 1. razred srednjih škola [Physics textbook for the 1st year of secondary school]. Harfo-graf.
Crundell, M, Goodwin, G., & Mee, C. (2014). Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics. Hodder Education.
Ding, L., Chabay, R., & Sherwood, B. (2013). How do students in an innovative principle‐based mechanics course understand energy concepts?. Journal of research in science teaching, 50(6), 722747. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21097
Duit, R. (1981). Understanding Energy as a Conserved Quantity‐Remarks on the Article by RU
Sexl. European journal of science education, 3(3), 291-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/0140528810030306
Duit, R. (2014). Teaching and learning the physics energy concept. In R. F. Chen, A. Eisenkraft, D. Fortus, J. S. Krajcik, K. Neumann, J. C. Nordine, & A. Scheff (Eds.), Teaching and learning of energy in K – 12 education (pp. 67–85). Springer International Publishing.
Fortus, D., Kubsch, M., Bielik, T., Krajcik, J., Lehavi, Y., Neumann, K., Nordine, N., Opitz, S., & Touitou, I. (2019). Systems, transfer, and fields: evaluating a new approach to energy instruction. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(10), 1341-1361. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21556
Goldring, H., & Osborne, J. (1994). Students' difficulties with energy and related concepts. Physics education, 29(1), 26-31. https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9120/29/1/006
Grimellini-Tomasini, N., Pecori-Balandi, B., Pacca, J. L., & Villani, A. (1993). Understanding conservation laws in mechanics: Students' conceptual change in learning about collisions. Science Education, 77, 169-189. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730770206
Halilović, A., Mešić, V., Hasović, E., & Dervić, D. (2021a). Students' Difficulties in Applying the Law of Conservation of Mechanical Energy: Results of a Survey Research. European Educational Researcher, 4(2), 171-192. https://doi.org/10.31757/euer.423
Halilović, A., Mešić, V., Hasović, E., & Vidak, A. (2021b). Teaching upper-secondary students about conservation of mechanical energy: Two variants of the system approach to energy analysis. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 20(2), 223-236. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/21.20.223
Herrmann‐Abell, C. F., & DeBoer, G. E. (2018). Investigating a learning progression for energy ideas from upper elementary through high school. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(1), 68-93. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21411
Jewett Jr, J. W. (2008). Energy and the confused student II: Systems. The Physics Teacher, 46(2), 81-86. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2834527
Jin, H., & Anderson, C. W. (2012). A learning progression for energy in socio‐ecological systems. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(9), 1149-1180. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21051
Kim, E., & Pak, S. J. (2002). Students do not overcome conceptual difficulties after solving 1000 traditional problems. American Journal of Physics, 70(7), 759-765. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1484151
Kulišić, P. (2005). Mehanika i toplina [Mechanics and heat]. Školska knjiga.
Lawson, R. A., & McDermott, L. C. (1987). Student understanding of the work‐energy and impulsemomentum theorems. American Journal of Physics, 55(9), 811-817. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.14994
Lee, H. S., & Liu, O. L. (2010). Assessing learning progression of energy concepts across middle school grades: The knowledge integration perspective. Science Education, 94(4), 665-688. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20382
Lindsey, B. A., Heron, P. R., & Shaffer, P. S. (2009). Student ability to apply the concepts of work and energy to extended systems. American Journal of Physics, 77(11), 999-1009. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3183889
Lindsey, B. A., Heron, P. R., & Shaffer, P. S. (2012). Student understanding of energy: difficulties related to systems. American Journal of Physics, 80(2), 154-163. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3660661
Liu, X. (2010). Using and developing measurement instruments in science education: A Rasch modeling approach. Iap.
Liu, X., & McKeough, A. (2005). Developmental growth in students' concept of energy: Analysis of selected items from the TIMSS database. Journal of Research in Science Teaching: The Official Journal of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 42(5), 493-517. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20060
McKagan, S. B., Perkins, K. K., & Wieman, C. E. (2010). Design and validation of the quantum mechanics conceptual survey. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 6(2), 020121. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020121
National Research Council (2012). A framework for K-12 science education. The National Academies Press.
Neumann, K., Viering, T., Boone, W. J., & Fischer, H. E. (2013). Towards a learning progression of energy. Journal of research in science teaching, 50(2), 162-188. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21061
Papadouris, N., & Constantinou, C. P. (2014). An exploratory investigation of 12-year-old students' ability to appreciate certain aspects of the nature of science through a specially designed approach in the context of energy. International Journal of Science Education, 36(5), 755-782. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.827816
Papadouris, N., & Constantinou, C. P. (2016). Investigating middle school students' ability to develop energy as a framework for analyzing simple physical phenomena. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(1), 119-145. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21248
Radford L., Sabena C. (2015) The Question of Method in a Vygotskian Semiotic Approach. In: A. Bikner-Ahsbahs, C. Knipping, & N. Presmeg (eds) Approaches to Qualitative Research in Mathematics Education (p. 157-182). Springer.
Redish, E. F. (2004). Teaching physics with the physics suite. Wiley.
Renkl, A. (2011). Instruction based on examples. In R. E. Mayer and P. A. Alexander (Eds.) Handbook of research on learning and instruction (pp. 286-309). Routledge.
Quilici, J. L., & Mayer, R. E. (1996). Role of examples in how students learn to categorize statistics word problems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 144. https://doi.org/10.1037/00220663.88.1.144
Samsudin, A., Afif, N. F., Nugraha, M. G., Suhandi, A., Fratiwi, N. J., Aminudin, A. H., ... & Costu, B. (2021). Reconstructing Students’ Misconceptions on Work and Energy through the PDEODE* E Tasks with Think-Pair-Share. Journal of Turkish Science Education, 18(1), 118-144.
Sang, D., Jones, G., Woodside, R., Chadha, G. (2012). Cambridge International AS and A level Physics. Cambridge University Press.
Seeley, L., Vokos, S., & Etkina, E. (2019). Examining physics teacher understanding of systems and the role it plays in supporting student energy reasoning. American Journal of Physics, 87(7), 510-519. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5110663
Singh, C., & Rosengrant, D. (2003). Multiple-choice test of energy and momentum concepts. American Journal of Physics, 71(6), 607-617. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1571832
Solbes, J., Guisasola, J., & Tarín, F. (2009). Teaching energy conservation as a unifying principle in physics. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(3), 265-274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-009-9149-3
Thomas, P. L., & Schwenz, R. W. (1998). College physical chemistry students' conceptions of equilibrium and fundamental thermodynamics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching: The Official Journal of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 35(10), 1151-1160. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199812)35:10<1151::AID-TEA6>3.0.CO;2-K
Topalsan, A. K., & Bayram, H. (2019). Identifying Prospective Primary School Teachers’ Ontologically Categorized Misconceptions on the Topic of" Force and Motion". Journal of Turkish Science Education, 16(1), 85-109.
Van Heuvelen, A., & Zou, X. (2001). Multiple representations of work–energy processes. American Journal of Physics, 69(2), 184-194. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1286662
Van Huis, C., & van den Berg, E. (1993). Teaching energy: a systems approach. Physics Education, 28(3), 146-153. https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9120/28/3/003
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of Turkish Science Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements: Credit must be given to the creator; only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted; no derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.
