Analogy for Drude's Free Electron Model to Promote Students' Understanding of Electric Circuits in Lower Secondary School

Autor/inn/en	de Almeida, Maria José B. M.; Salvador, Andreia; Costa, Maria Margarida R. R.
Titel	Analogy for Drude's Free Electron Model to Promote Students' Understanding of Electric Circuits in Lower Secondary School
Quelle	In: Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 10 (2014) 2, S.020118-1 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1554-9178
DOI	10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020118
Schlagwörter	Electronics; Secondary School Science; Scientific Concepts; Models; Logical Thinking; Secondary School Students; Science Instruction; Foreign Countries; Pilot Projects; Concept Formation; Instructional Effectiveness; Portugal + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Elektronik; Analogiemodell; Sekundarschüler; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Ausland; Pilot project; Modellversuch; Pilotprojekt; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Unterrichtserfolg
Abstract	Aiming at a deep understanding of some basic concepts of electric circuits in lower secondary schools, this work introduces an analogy between the behavior of children playing in a school yard with a central lake, subject to different conditions, rules, and stimuli, and Drude's free electron model of metals. Using this analogy from the first school contacts with electric phenomena, one can promote students' understanding of concepts such as electric current, the role of generators, potential difference effects, energy transfer, open and closed circuits, resistances, and their combinations in series and parallel. One believes that through this analogy well-known previous misconceptions of young students about electric circuit behaviors can be overcome. Furthermore, students' understanding will enable them to predict, and justify with self-constructed arguments, the behavior of different elementary circuits. The students' predictions can be verified--as a challenge of self-produced understanding schemes--using laboratory experiments. At a preliminary stage, our previsions were confirmed through a pilot study with three classrooms of 9th level Portuguese students. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Physical Society. One Physics Ellipse 4th Floor, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Tel: 301-209-3200; Fax: 301-209-0865; e-mail: assocpub@aps.org; Web site: http://prst-per.aps.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10