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Development and Application of a Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Pre-service Science Teachers’ Understanding on Work-Power and Energy Concepts

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to develop and validate a three-tier diagnostic test on work, power, and energy (WPE) concepts and (2) to identify Turkish pre-service science teachers’ conceptual understanding through this test. The Work, Power, and Energy Concept Test (WPECT) was developed through interviews, read-aloud sessions, and two pilot tests. Construct, content, and face validity of WPECT was achieved by various statistical procedures and expert opinions. The final version was administered to 709 pre-service science teachers (79.43% female, 20.57% male) from nine different universities which are located in seven official geographical regions of Turkey. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the test was estimated as .73. The analysis of the responses revealed that the majority of the participants showed an inadequate scientific understanding of WPE concepts. Four common alternative conceptions were held by more than 10% of the participants. These are as follows: (1) Constant pulleys produce a gain in energy and a corresponding gain in work; (2) The total amount of potential energy always transforms into the kinetic energy including frictional environments; (3) An object’s total energy does not change when it is moved by a force; (4) A less muscular person moving the same object to the same distance at the same time delivers more power because s/he uses more energy. The results also presented that WPECT is a valid and reliable instrument to assess pre-service science teachers’ alternative conceptions on WPE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Gazi University, Ankara, 06500, Teknikokullar, Turkey

    Meltem IRMAK, Hilal YANIŞ-KELLECİ & Nejla YÜRÜK

  2. Faculty of Education, Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, 31060, Hatay, Turkey

    Hüseyin İNALTUN

  3. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35401, USA

    Jale ERCAN-DURSUN

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  1. Meltem IRMAK
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  2. Hüseyin İNALTUN
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  3. Jale ERCAN-DURSUN
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Meltem Irmak, Hüseyin İnaltun, Jale Ercan-Dursun, Hilal Yanış-Kelleci, and Nejla Yürük. The first draft of the manuscript was written by all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Meltem IRMAK.

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Appendix Sample items for two selected contexts

Appendix Sample items for two selected contexts

There are totally 13 items in the test with 3 tiers in each item. Only 3 items were provided in there. The whole test was presented in the supplementary materials. The correct answers in the content and reason tiers were indicated with asterisks. At the bottom of each item, the tested alternative conceptions together with the alternative sets indicating that alternative conceptions were provided. The abbreviations of alternative conceptions’ categories were indicated with subscripts.

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IRMAK, M., İNALTUN, H., ERCAN-DURSUN, J. et al. Development and Application of a Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Pre-service Science Teachers’ Understanding on Work-Power and Energy Concepts. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 21, 159–185 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-021-10242-6

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