Helping First-Year University Students to Overcome the Threshold Concept of Ohm’s Law

Abstract

Contribution: This article presents significant contributions in the field of understanding and addressing misconceptions (MCs) related to Ohm’s law. First, it provides a comprehensive list and detailed description of 16 MCs commonly observed among students, and identifies and emphasizes 11 good practices that educators can adopt to effectively address these MCs to promote conceptual understanding. Second, this article offers two conceptual maps, serving as a valuable guide for practitioners. Lastly, this work presents an in-depth analysis of a flipped classroom intervention aimed at both overthrowing students’ MCs and promoting students’ metacognition. Background: A deep understanding of Ohm’s law holds immense importance for first-year engineering students because it serves as a fundamental principle in electrical engineering and forms the basis for analyzing and designing electrical circuits. Research Questions: Which MCs prevent students from understanding Ohm’s law? Which are their prevalence and persistence? Does the classroom dynamics proposed in this research improve the understanding of Ohm’s law? Does it transform the students’ previous conception? and Do students retain the new conception? Methodology: Two student groups from different degrees were selected as participants in the study. Both student groups were assessed using the conceptual Test DIRECT 1.0 as a pretest and DIRECT 1.2 as a post-test and delayed post-test. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out to determine significant differences in learning outcomes before and after instruction. This study also provides rich insights into the underlying MCs and the effectiveness of the instructional approach in addressing them. Findings: The research findings contribute to the existing knowledge by identifying a new MC, introducing new good practices, developing a new conceptual map for power, showcasing the effectiveness of a classroom intervention, and deepening the understanding of the relationship between test DIRECT 1.0 and 1.2 and MCs. These findings have implications for educational practices, curriculum development, and instructional approaches, ultimately aiming at improving students’ understanding of Ohm’s law and related electrical concepts.