Using a bicycle analogy to alleviate students' alternative conceptions and conceptual difficulties in electric circuits

Abstract

Generally, students both at school level and at university level have experience some conceptions and conceptual difficulties in electric circuits. This article reports the findings of the study that investigated the effect of a bicycle analogy in alleviating alternative conceptions and other conceptual difficulties about electric circuits. The research sample consisted of hundred (100) first year science education students from the Faculty of Education at a South African university. A pre-test/post-test comparison group design was followed. A test consisting of eleven items from the ECCE was used to collect data. Data analysis was done by calculating the average normalized gain scores for the group between the pre and post-test. A score of 0,4 was obtained, signifying that the instructional intervention, involving the use of the bicycle analogy, had been effective in significantly alleviating the alternative conceptions and other conceptual difficulties held by the participants about electric circuits.