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Overcoming Students' Misconceptions in Science pp 223–242Cite as

Addressing Secondary School Students’ Misconceptions About Simple Current Circuits Using the Learning Cycle Approach

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Abstract

Misconceptions about simple current circuits are prevalent among secondary school students. Various reasons have been identified as sources for the students’ misconceptions. This includes students’ prior knowledge about the concept that affects the learning of new knowledge in the formal classroom setting. The literature suggests that with an effective teaching approach misconceptions could be reduced. One of the possible approaches is through the learning cycle approach. This study used a quasi-experimental approach in which two groups of Form 3 (equivalent to grade 9) students (15 year old) from three classes consisting of 78 students from one school were assigned into experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group consisted of 40 students and the comparison group had 38 students. After 3 weeks of instruction using the learning cycle approach, students in the experimental group had significantly improved their understanding and had reduced their misconceptions about simple current circuits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Air Merah Secondary School, Kulim Kedah, Malaysia

    Kamilah Osman

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  1. Kamilah Osman
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Correspondence to Kamilah Osman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

    Mageswary Karpudewan

  2. School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

    Ahmad Nurulazam Md Zain

  3. Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC), Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    A.L. Chandrasegaran

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Osman, K. (2017). Addressing Secondary School Students’ Misconceptions About Simple Current Circuits Using the Learning Cycle Approach. In: Karpudewan, M., Md Zain, A., Chandrasegaran, A. (eds) Overcoming Students' Misconceptions in Science. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3437-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3437-4_12

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