Examining the students’ understanding level towards the concepts of magnetic field: the case of conducting wire

Abstract

The electromagnetism is one of the important topics in physics and it has quite a lot of applications in a wide range of area. It also examines the electromagnetic force researches that occur between the electrically charged particles. On the other hand, examination of the magnetic field around the conductors and the movement of the charged particles in the electromagnetic field is quite interesting topics on that the physics researchers intensively investigated. The electromagnetic theory has an abstract nature, because the university level students have many learning and understanding difficulties about the concepts related to these topics. In realization of meaningful learning, the role of the students’ prior knowledge about the aforementioned concepts is becoming important. This study aims to investigate the understanding of 12 pre-service physics teachers related to the concept of moving particles in an electromagnetic filed by using the qualitative research methods. The data collected through the test consisting of three question and it was analysed by using content analysis method. The understanding levels and the alternative conceptions of the pre-service physics teachers were determined by different categories at the end of the content analyses process.

Keywords: Alternative conceptions, electromagnetism education, pre-service physics teachers; understanding level