Students’ Perceptions of Learning Effiency of Introductory Physics Course

Abstract

The aim of this study was by using students’ self-assessments to identify the learning efficiency of introductory (mechanics and waves) physics course connecting physics to students’ everyday life. Physics is one of the most difficult courses for students, mainly because its presentation is theoretical, mathematical and abstract without everyday applications and examples. Moreover, connections to students’ everyday life are crucial for learner’s mental construction of the information they learn and for achieving meaningful learning. The findings of this study are significant in evaluating the learning efficiency of the physics course, which was presented by connection to students’ everyday life. The sample consisted of a total of 92 first year undergraduates, 82 of which were male and 10 were female. Data was collected by a likert type scale which was prepared in line with the post-then-pre test method called “Students’ Perceptions of Learning – Students’ Self-Assessment” developed by the Author. Hake’s formula was used in order to calculate learning efficiency. The findings of this study indicated that learning efficiencies were high for the areas in which students were interested in everyday life. Moreover, that learning efficiencies were higher for topics students had learnt before in comparison to new ones. Mean that learning efficiency of the lesson was calculated as 0.5, which was between 0.3 and 0.7, and thus indicated moderate learning efficiency.