Development and application of a four-tier test to assess pre-service physics teachers' misconceptions about geometrical optics

Date

2017-06-01

Author

Kaltakci-Gurel, Derya
Eryılmaz, Ali
MCDERMOTT, Lillian Christie

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

108
views

0
downloads

Background: Correct identification of misconceptions is an important first step in order to gain an understanding of student learning. More recently, four-tier multiple choice tests have been found to be effective in assessing misconceptions.Purpose: The purposes of this study are (1) to develop and validate a four-tier misconception test to assess the misconceptions of pre-service physics teachers (PSPTs) about geometrical optics, and (2) to assess and identify PSPTs' misconceptions about geometrical optics.Sample: The Four-Tier Geometrical Optics Test (FTGOT) was developed based on findings from the interviews (n=16), open-ended testing (n=52), pilot testing (n=53) and administered to 243 PSPTs from 12 state universities in Turkey.Design and Methods: The first phase of the study was the development of a four-tier test. In the second phase of this study, a cross-sectional survey design was used.Results: Validity of the FTGOT scores was established by means of some qualitative and quantitative methods. These are: (1) content and face validations by six experts; (2) Positive correlations between the PSPTs' correct scores considering only first tiers of the FTGOT and their confidence score for this tier (r= .194) and between correct scores considering first and third tiers and confidence scores for both of those tiers (r= .218) were found as evidences for construct validity. (3) False positive (3.5%), false negative (3.3%) and lack of knowledge (5.1%) percentages were found to be less than 10% as an evidence for content validity of the test scores. (4) Explanatory factor analysis conducted over correct and misconception scores yielded meaningful factors for the correct scores as an evidence for construct validity. Additionally, the Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated for correct scores (r=0.59) and misconception scores (r=0.42) to establish the reliability of the test scores. Six misconceptions about geometrical optics, which were held by more than 10% of the PSPTs, were identified and considered to be significant.Conclusions: The results from the present investigation demonstrate that the FTGOT is a valid and reliable instrument in assessing misconceptions in geometrical optics.

Subject Keywords

Misconceptions, Diagnostic tests, Four-tier tests, Geometrical optics

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/35034
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02635143.2017.1310094

Journal

RESEARCH IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2017.1310094

Collections

Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Article

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Development of a three tier test to assess high school students understanding of asids and bases Çetin Dindar, Ayla; Geban, Ömer (2011-05-03) Two-tier tests are such as assessment tools that can make available for teachers/researchers to determine students alternative conceptions and whether a student gives a correct response to a question by understanding the related subject since the secondtier of a test asks for a reason for the first-tier response. The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable three-tier diagnostic test to assess students’ understanding of acids-bases concepts. For developing this test, interviews and open-end...
Developing a three-tier test to assess high school students' misconceptions concerning force and motion Türker, Fatma; Eryılmaz, Ali; Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education (2005) The purpose of this study is to develop a three-tier test for assessing high school students̕ misconceptions concerning force and motion. The first tier is a traditional multiple choice item, the second tier presents several alternatives addressing the reason for the response for the first tier, and the third tier asks if examinees are confident for their responses to the first two tiers. In the process of test development, Force and Motion Test Requesting Reasoning was developed and utilized to determine t...
Using Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Students' Misconceptions of States of Matter KIRBULUT, ZÜBEYDE DEMET; Geban, Ömer (2014-10-01) This study involves the development of a three-tier diagnostic test to measure high school students' understanding of states of matter concepts. The States of Matter Diagnostic Test (SMDT) is a 19-item three-tier diagnostic test consisting of three-tier items for assessing students' understanding of states of matter concepts. The SMDT was administered to 195 10th grade high school students in the pilot study and 102 10th grade high school students in the main study. Cronbach alpha reliability indexes for th...
Identifying factors that affect students' acceptance of web-based assessment tools within the context of higher education Alkış, Nurcan; Özkan Yıldırım, Sevgi; Department of Information Systems (2010) The main aim of this thesis study is to identify the factors that affect higher education students’ perceptions of computerized assessment for learning. This study additionally aims to help effective use of computers in assessment activities by guiding the teachers or educational organization by interpreting the factors that affect students’ attitudes toward computer use in examinations. Quantitative research design has been used in this study. When choosing the participants, nonprobability sampling strateg...
Development and application of a four-tier test to assess pre-service physics teachers' misconceptions about geometrical optics Kaltakçı, Derya; Eryılmaz, Ali; McDermott, Lillian Christie; Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education (2012) The main purpose of this study was to develop and administer a four-tier test for assessing Turkish pre-service physics teachers’ misconceptions about geometrical optics. Sixteen pre-service physics teachers, who were selected by maximum variation and convenience sampling methods from three state universities in Ankara, were interviewed in the contexts of plane mirrors, spherical mirrors, and lenses. From these interviews and the studies in the literature, the Open-Ended Geometrical Optics Test was develope...

Citation Formats

D. Kaltakci-Gurel, A. Eryılmaz, and L. C. MCDERMOTT, “Development and application of a four-tier test to assess pre-service physics teachers’ misconceptions about geometrical optics,” RESEARCH IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION, pp. 238–260, 2017, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/35034.