Examining the effectiveness of blended learning in addressing learner misconceptions about electricity

Bussey, Keith E. (2013) Examining the effectiveness of blended learning in addressing learner misconceptions about electricity. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (79MB)

Abstract

Learner misconceptions about electricity have been researched amongst grade school students, secondary school students, and post-secondary students. These misconceptions have been categorized into common models and have been found to be developed at an early age and to persist into adulthood. It has also been discovered that such misconceptions can persist regardless of the level of the education achieved. These misconceptions can be corrected through planned interventions such as conceptual change texts, analogies, and real and simulated experimentation. This study examines the effectiveness of blended learning as an intervention to address learner misconceptions and bring about conceptual change. This involves combining previously researched conceptual change methods with a learning experience that includes both on-line and face-to-face instruction. The effectiveness of this type of intervention was explored using a quasi-experiment involving a cohort of student enrolled in the first year of a three year Engineering Technology program at College of the North Atlantic. The results of an analysis of the pretest and post-test yielded no significant differences between the experimental group and control groups. The results of this study may serve as the foundation for additional research in this area.

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