Assessing the State of Modern Physics Education: Pre-test Findings and Influencing Factors

https://doi.org/10.28991/ESJ-2024-SIED1-01
Modern Physics Pre-test Misconceptions Learning Styles.

Authors

  • Talia Tene
    tbtene@utpl.edu.ec
    Department of Chemistry, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110160,, Ecuador https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8588-6490
  • Elba Bodero-Poveda 2) Facultad de Ingenierí­a, Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo, Grupo TEIIC. Km 1.5 ví­a a Guano, Riobamba, Ecuador. 3) Facultad de Informática, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Casilla Postal 1900, La Plata,, Argentina
  • Diego Vique López Facultad de Ciencias, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba EC-060155,, Ecuador
  • Cristian Vacacela Gomez INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, I-00044 Frascati, RM,, Italy
  • Stefano Bellucci INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, I-00044 Frascati, RM,, Italy
Vol. 8 (2024): Special Issue "Current Issues, Trends, and New Ideas in Education"
Special Issue "Current Issues, Trends, and New Ideas in Education"

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Technology and our conceptions of reality have both been significantly impacted by modern physics. However, due to a variety of issues, such as disparities in educational resources, differing emphasis on science education, cultural attitudes, and language obstacles, students in Latin America, including Ecuador, have a limited understanding of modern physics. The present work exposes a pre-test methodology to evaluate students' knowledge and pinpoint their areas of weakness. The analysis of the results indicates that most students received lower grades, while a smaller proportion obtained higher scores. Our findings reveal significant knowledge gaps, misconceptions, and uncertainty among the participants regarding various topics related to the constituent and stability of the nucleus, quantum behavior, nuclear models, radioactive decay, and natural radioactive sources. Additionally, it was statistically demonstrated (Kruskal-Wallis H test) that misconceptions, uncertainties, and knowledge gaps are not significantly related to learning styles. The type of college substantially impacts academics, with private university students typically receiving higher grades. These results offer insightful information about student performance, how learning styles and college types affect academic achievement in modern physics, and the effects of living area and academic level.

 

Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2024-SIED1-01

Full Text: PDF