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MISCONCEPTION IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

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 focuses 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. (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). According to 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       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 school 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.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine the misconceptions in physics in senior secondary school. Specific objectives include;

i.  To outline the major misconceptions of student in physics.

ii.  To determine the difference between misconception of male students in physics and female student in physics.

iii.  To determine if the misconception of student in physics is dependent on student cultural background.

iv.  To determine the relationship of age and misconceptions of students in physics.

1.4       Research Questions

i.  What are the major misconceptions of students in physics?

ii.  Is there difference between the misconception of male and female students in physics?

iii.  What is the relationship between the misconceptions of students’ in physics and their cultural background?

iv.  What is the relationship of age and students’ misconception in physics?

1.5       Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis I

H0: There is no significant difference between the misconceptions of male and female students in physics.

Hi: There is a significant difference between the misconceptions of male and female students in physics.

Hypothesis II

H0: There is no significant relationship between cultural background and misconceptions of students in physics.

Hi: There is a significant relationship between cultural background and misconceptions of students in physics.

Hypothesis III

H0: There is no significant relationship between student’s age and misconceptions in physics.

Hi: There is a significant relationship between student’s age and misconceptions in physics.

1.6       Significance of the Study

The significances 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.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

1.7       Scope of the 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.

1.8       Limitations of the study

The demanding schedule of respondents made it very difficult getting the respondents to participate in the survey. As a result, retrieving copies of questionnaire in timely fashion was very challenging. Also, the researcher is a student and therefore has limited time as well as resources in covering extensive literature available in conducting this research. Information provided by the researcher may not hold true for all research under this study but is restricted to the selected respondents used as a study in this research especially in the locality where this study is being conducted. Finally, the researcher is restricted only to the evidence provided by the participants in the research and therefore cannot determine the reliability and accuracy of the information provided. Other limitations include;

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9       Definition of Terms

Science: This is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanation prediction about the universe.

Misconception: This is 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.

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