The Predict-Observe-Explain technique as a tool for students' understanding of electric circuits

Abstract

This paper looks at the learning of the topic of electric circuits by 17-year-old students covering an advanced level course in physics, in Malta. Even if electric circuits are taught in schools both at primary and secondary level, many researchers have reported problems related to the understanding of circuits. The ideas presented during the teaching process are described as ‘abstract’ by students and the so-called ‘simple circuit’ is seen as anything but simple. This paper reports the results of a pilot study dealing with the learning of key concepts in electric circuits, focussing mainly on potential difference in simple parallel circuits. Students’ understanding was probed using a pre-test and a posttest. Interviews were then conducted using the Predict-Observe-Explain technique to further probe understanding of parallel circuits. The study indicated that all the interviewees made a visible effort to try to correctly explain how the circuit presented to them works. Moreover, about one third of these students managed to bridge the gap between their unscientific intuitions and the scientific view. The Predict-Observe-Explain technique helped students shift their thinking towards the scientific view regarding parallel circuits. The implication is that teachers must not ignore simple but effective teaching techniques which focus on putting the responsibility of learning on the student. Choosing a teaching strategy which helps to arouse students’ curiosity by creating cognitive conflicts to make students think, leads the way to a powerful and a qualitatively enriched teaching and learning experience.