Electronic learning- virtual
M. Jamalinejad- Halima Jani; F. Khodadadi Azadboni
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Virtual education has increasingly gained importance in recent years, becoming one of the main pillars of educational systems worldwide. This type of education has turned into a necessary solution for continuing the learning process, especially when schools are closed. However, ...
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Background and Objectives: Virtual education has increasingly gained importance in recent years, becoming one of the main pillars of educational systems worldwide. This type of education has turned into a necessary solution for continuing the learning process, especially when schools are closed. However, students often face challenges in understanding physics concepts through traditional methods. Transmitting curriculum content through various virtual education networks requires effective strategies to address these challenges. In this research, the effectiveness of concept maps is examined as one of the generative learning strategies and approaches to improve students' learning levels in conveying abstract physics concepts.Methods: The present research method was a quasi-experimental pre-test / post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all female students in the 11th grade of regular schools in District 5 of Mashhad Education Department, who were studying during the academic year 2023-2024. Using purposive sampling, 60 students from Samieh High School in Mashhad were selected. These individuals were randomly assigned to one control group and two experimental groups. One experimental group received teacher-generated concept maps, while the second experimental group worked with student-generated concept maps. The control group received instruction through traditional teaching methods. To collect data, a researcher-made academic achievement test was utilized in a pre-test/post-test format. The content and face validity of the test were confirmed by physics teachers and education professors, and its reliability was assessed using the test-retest method. Additionally, independent t-tests and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used for data analysis. To assess the normality of the data distribution, four tests were utilized: Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Cramer-von Mises, and Anderson-Darling. The significance levels in these tests were above 0.05, indicating a normal distribution of the data.Findings: The results indicated that the use of concept maps in a virtual environment had a positive and significant impact on students' learning outcomes. The analysis of covariance regarding academic performance revealed a significant difference between the scores of the two groups using different teaching methods: teacher-centered concept mapping and student-centered concept mapping. The independent t-test results showed a high significance level (99%) in academic progress between the control group and the teacher-centered experimental group. The impact of the teacher-constructed concept mapping teaching method was significantly higher than that of the student-constructed concept mapping method (significance level 0.05) and the traditional teaching method (significance level 0.01), with this method achieving the highest scores among students. Additionally, the scores from the student-constructed concept mapping teaching method were significantly higher than those of the traditional teaching method (significance level 0.01). The greatest increase in mean scores was observed in the teacher-centered concept mapping group (74%), followed closely by the student-centered concept mapping group (72%). The traditional teaching method group showed the least increase (59%). These findings clearly highlighted the effectiveness of using concept maps in teaching physics topics for enhancing student performance.Conclusion: In this research, concept maps were utilized as a generative and innovative educational strategy to enhance the sustainable learning levels of students in the topic of magnetism, yielding remarkable results. These maps, leveraging beautiful and comprehensible visual metaphors, facilitated the visualization of concepts, especially in abstract and complex areas such as magnetism and magnetic fields, which can be challenging for students. The findings of this research indicated that students, despite the educational gaps that have emerged, are capable of receiving effective education in virtual environments. The use of well-designed concept maps that include appropriate visual metaphors allows students to easily grasp abstract concepts and achieve deeper learning. It is worth mentioning that this study specifically focused on female students, and the results may not be generalizable to male students. It is recommended to utilize teacher-created concept maps that incorporate beautiful and comprehensible visual metaphors to enhance students' learning levels and address the educational gaps created in virtual settings.
Emerging Technologies
Z. Hamed Ghafarian; F. Khodadadi Azadboni
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Teaching physics concepts, particularly Newton’s laws, in lower secondary education faces challenges such as incomplete understanding and student misconceptions. These issues often arise from traditional teaching’s emphasis on memorizing formulas and neglecting ...
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Background and Objectives: Teaching physics concepts, particularly Newton’s laws, in lower secondary education faces challenges such as incomplete understanding and student misconceptions. These issues often arise from traditional teaching’s emphasis on memorizing formulas and neglecting the cognitive construction of concepts. The Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS) model focuses on active knowledge construction, identifies cognitive weaknesses, and facilitates effective instruction. The inquiry-based approach further enhances conceptual understanding by encouraging active participation and reflective thinking. This study aimed to investigate the impact of classifying learning levels using the APOS constructivist model, combined with inquiry-based teaching, on the performance of ninth-grade students in learning Newton’s laws. The objectives were to evaluate the approach’s effect on improving learning levels, identify the Newton’s law most influenced by it, and determine the learning level with the greatest progress. The study sought to provide strategies to enhance physics education and address misconceptions in dynamics.Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed a pre-test/post-test design. The population consisted of all ninth-grade students in Mashhad during the 2022-2023 academic year. A sample of 29 female students was selected using convenience sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made test assessing learning levels for Newton’s laws. The test’s content validity was confirmed by physics education experts and teachers, and its reliability was established with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.7. The educational intervention was conducted over six 100-minute sessions, including direct instruction with real-world examples, group problem-solving, and group discussions to foster reflective thinking. Activities such as inertia experiments, acceleration analysis, and object collision analysis were designed. Quantitative data were analyzed using statistical software and the McNemar test at a 0.05 significance level. Qualitative data from observations of student behavior were analyzed through inductive content analysis.Findings: The results showed that the APOS constructivist model with an inquiry-based approach significantly improved students’ performance in learning Newton’s laws. In the pre-test, mean correct response percentages were 59.2% for Action, 28.7% for Process, 27% for Object, and 16.6% for Schema, indicating weaknesses in higher learning levels and incomplete mental constructs. Students struggled with deep conceptual understanding and analytical problem-solving. In post-intervention, these values increased to 89.1% (Action), 88% (Process), 84.5% (Object), and 71.3% (Schema), with changes of 29.9%, 59.3%, 57.5%, and 54.7%, respectively. The McNemar test confirmed significant differences (p<0.05) for the first law at Process and Object levels, the second law at Object and Schema levels, and the third law at Process, Object, and Schema levels. The second law (dynamics) showed the greatest improvement with a 53.5% average increase. Qualitative analysis confirmed students’ progression from the Action level to higher levels.Conclusion: The APOS constructivist model with inquiry-based teaching reduced misconceptions, such as the need for continuous force for motion or non-zero resultant action-reaction forces, by fostering reflective thinking and active participation. Using this constructivist model in physics education enables meaningful learning, leading to students’ awareness of applying laws, principles, and formulas. Teachers are recommended to adopt this model to enhance learning levels.
e-learning
F. Khodadadi Azadboni; J. kamali
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The topic of electricity is often considered a challenging and abstract concept in physics. Learning non-intuitive scientific concepts can be challenging for students because they often hold incorrect conceptions about natural phenomena that lead them toward errors. Many students ...
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Background and Objectives: The topic of electricity is often considered a challenging and abstract concept in physics. Learning non-intuitive scientific concepts can be challenging for students because they often hold incorrect conceptions about natural phenomena that lead them toward errors. Many students struggle to understand the underlying principles and behaviors of electrical systems. Identifying and correcting misconceptions about electricity physics is essential for promoting meaningful learning and conceptual understanding. Nowadays, using technology in educational settings is considered an essential aspect of teaching and learning. Utilizing technology, such as simulation software like COMSOL, can help to visualize and better understand these concepts. This research has been done with the aim of identifying and correcting the misunderstandings of 11th-grade high school students in learning the concepts of electricity by simulating COMSOL software.Materials and Methods: The present research is an applied study in terms of its objective and a mixed-methods research in terms of its methodology. The qualitative section utilized content analysis to extract misconceptions about the concepts of electricity in physics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with SIX teachers using purposive sampling. Three types of coding, namely open, axial, and selective, were employed to extract the main misconceptions. The main misconceptions identified were Coulomb's law, the shape of field lines between two point charges, the electric field between capacitor plates, the motion of electric charges in an external electric field, charge distribution on surfaces, and the effect of an external electric field on conductive and non-conductive shells. Based on this pattern, a 6-item questionnaire was designed to validate the pattern of misconceptions about electricity concepts among students. The validation of the extracted pattern and the content validity of the questionnaire were assessed by experts in the field of physics education. The quantitative section of the research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The target population consisted of all male eleventh-grade students in high schools in Bojnurd city during the academic year 2022-2023. Using random sampling, 30 students were selected for each group. In the first stage, both groups took a pretest. Then, the experimental group received the independent variable (simulation-based learning using the COMSOL software) in six sessions of 90 minutes each. Meanwhile, the control group received traditional lecture-based instruction. After the intervention, both groups (experimental and control) took the dependent variable (the misconceptions test on electricity concepts). The data were analyzed using ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) with the help of SPSS software. Findings: The post-test results showed that in addition to correcting students' misconceptions and increasing their learning level, the use of computer and COMSOL simulation software helped them better understand the concepts and increased their concentration. The results of this analysis showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between the learning and progress of the experimental group and the control group. The errors of the experimental group changed significantly compared to the control group. In the topics under investigation, the minimum percentage of misconception correction in the experimental group was 46.66%. Meanwhile, the minimum percentage of misconception correction in the control group was observed to be 36.66%.Conclusions: The research results have demonstrated that Simulation software enables students to visualize and interact with abstract concepts, making them more tangible and easier to comprehend. By using COMSOL, students can manipulate different variables in electrical systems, observe the effects, and gain insights into the underlying principles. This hands-on approach can correct misconceptions and improve students' understanding of electricity in physics. By providing interactive and visual representations of electrical phenomena, simulation software can make the subject more accessible and engaging, leading to improved learning outcomes. According to the obtained results, it is suggested that educational technology and modeling using COMSOL software be promoted in teachers' professional development programs. This action can lead to the development of knowledge of educational content and the correction of misunderstandings of concepts.
Electronic learning- virtual
F. Sedaghat; F. Khodadadi Azadboni
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the education system worldwide, leading to a sudden shift to virtual and electronic learning. With the closure of schools, remote learning has become a major challenge for every education system. It is clear that if new physics ...
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Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the education system worldwide, leading to a sudden shift to virtual and electronic learning. With the closure of schools, remote learning has become a major challenge for every education system. It is clear that if new physics content is taught using traditional (conventional) methods and not utilizing innovative teaching methods appropriate to the content, the new goals of the physics curriculum will not be achieved. Physics, by providing the ability to understand the relationship between observed phenomena and the concepts and laws governing the natural world, expands the mind in such a way that prepares individuals well for participation in society and solving future problems and crises through scientific methods and precise planning. The use of active teaching methods, especially a context-based approach, plays a fundamental role in understanding physics concepts. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of context-based physics education on the learning, self-regulated skill and effectiveness of students in the virtual learning environment.Methods: The present research method was a quasi-experimental pre-test - post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all 8th-grade students of the first secondary school of the Enghelab school in district 2 of Mashhad in the academic year 2020-2021. Using the available sampling method, 60 female 8th-grade secondary school students were selected from the Enghelab public school. These individuals were randomly divided into two groups of 30 students, an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received a 90-minute Curriculum-Based Instruction intervention for eight sessions while the control group received traditional instruction. The subject of the research was static electricity. To collect the data, the standard self-regulation questionnaire by Bouffard et al. (1995) and the standard self-efficacy questionnaire by Sherer et al. (1998) were used. In this research, researcher-made questions were used to assess learning. The test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments. Both groups were evaluated before and after the intervention in the virtual space using the researcher-made learning questionnaire, the Bouchard self-regulation questionnaire, and the Sherer self-efficacy questionnaire. The results of both groups were examined and compared using analysis of covariance, standard deviation, and regression.Findings: The results of the analysis of covariance test showed that the difference between the post-test of the two groups in the variable of self-efficacy (P=0.001, F=72.86) and self-regulated learning (P=0.001, F=80.90) was significant at the level of.01. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the scores of self-regulated learning and self-efficacy between the experimental and control groups in the post-test. The results also showed that the adjusted mean of the physics scores of the experimental group is higher than the control group, so the physics education with the context-based approach has an effect on increasing the learning of students in the first year of high school.Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, despite the educational limitations in the virtual space, it can be concluded that the use of a context-based approach in teaching physics has a positive impact on the self-efficacy, self-regulation, and learning of middle school students. This method, by creating diverse learning opportunities, leads to increased knowledge and a broader understanding of the topics in electricity physics. Since physics covers a wide range of subjects that prepare individuals for participation in society and solving future problems and crises, the use of active and context-based methods in physics classes can create an effective and practical educational system. It is suggested that to achieve a dynamic and creative educational system, active and context-based methods should be used. This will lead to the creation of intellectual transformation and fundamental changes in the structure, methods, patterns, ideas, and attitudes.
