Knowledge of Teaching Physics Concepts

4.3.2 - Knowledge of learner’s Understanding of physics concepts; 4.3.3 - Knowledge of content and purpose;

4.3.4 - Physics pedagogical content knowledge; 4.3.5 - Knowledge of Newtonian force concepts.

The survey for this study was completed by 124 participants that comprised 64 trainee and 60 practising science teachers. Data from the 124 respondents were analysed as a whole using basic statistics in SPSS. Subsequently, there were 124 valid cases (N) and none was excluded for the first four scales in the survey. Besides, with the statistical analysis, inferences were also made by comparing the responses from the two cohorts. Added to that, the responses from scales one, two and three were also compared with responses to scales four as well as scale five.

The first four scales comprised items or statements with corresponding five points Likert options while the fifth scale in the survey contained four multiple choice questions that were extracted from the FCI. Subsequently, the first four scales were

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analysed for their Cronbach’s Alpha reliabilities or internal consistencies while the fifth scale was basically analysed using the frequency of responses that were correct compared to misconceptions. As such, the reliability statistics for the first four scales are presented in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1

Reliability Statistics for Scales One to Four

Scales Number of items Cronbach’s Alpha

1 Knowledge of Teaching 15 0.72

2 Knowledge of Learner’s Understanding 12 0.66

3 Knowledge of Content and Purpose 13 0.83

4 Pedagogical Content Knowledge 10 0.89

Note. The Cronbach’s Alpha for each scale in the survey (N = 124).

This analysis was significant to determine the general trends of responses with respect to the themes in the first four scales. Accordingly, higher values of Cronbach’s Alpha reliability indicate that the majority of items were related in construct and concept as well as, it can be inferred that the majority of participants responded in a similar way for many of the items in the same scale (Cohen et al., 2007).

4.3.1 Knowledge of Teaching Physics Concepts

Scale one in the survey for this study consists of 15 statements regarding knowledge that science teachers should have in teaching physics concepts. Subsequently, for the purpose of this study the frequencies of scale one responses for the whole data set of 124 respondents or participants are presented in Table 4.2. This result provides a general trend of how the survey participants responded to the statements regarding their knowledge of teaching physics concepts. Consequently, the higher frequencies of responses to most of the items indicated that the majority of survey participants had similar responses or views and experiences associated with the knowledge of teaching physics concepts in high school. In other words, generally, the quantitative findings for scale one indicated that the majority of participants perceived that they had knowledge of teaching physics concepts in high school. However, specific results in Table 4.2 also indicated a spread of responses for item three and item 14.

139 Table 4.2

Frequency of Responses for Scale One (N = 124)

Note. The sample (N) is 124 cases: 64 trainee and 60 practising science teacher participants.

Item Statements on Knowledge of Teaching

Physics Concepts Frequency

No SD D UN A SA

i01 I understand how to use demonstrations to

explain physics concepts. 0 5 8 92 19

i02 I understand how to use appropriate diagrams

and graphs to explain physics concepts. 0 1 21 81 21 i03 I am able to use computer simulations to help

learners understand physics concepts. 10 19 44 42 9 i04 I am confident in using familiar everyday

examples to explain physics concepts. 2 1 22 66 33 i05 I am confident in using stories to explain

physics concepts. 0 4 23 72 25

i06 Presenting a physics concept in multiple ways to explain the concept are tools for effective physics teaching.

0 5 12 46 61

i07 Physics learning is enhanced when the teacher is good at representing the physics concepts in multiple ways.

0 2 7 38 77

i08 Physics teachers should spent time on developing or finding multiple representations of a physics concept.

0 0 4 39 81

i09 Textbooks or curricular material should

embody physics concepts in multiple ways. 0 0 7 56 61 i10 In my physics teaching, I use multiple

representations to teach a physics concept. 1 9 17 61 36 i11 I use stories to explain physics concepts in my

teaching. 3 4 19 66 32

i12 I use familiar everyday real objects to help learners’ understanding of the physics concepts in my teaching.

0 2 4 63 55

i13 Multiple representations of a physics concept

can help to explain abstract concepts. 0 3 13 56 52 i14 Multiple representations of a physics concept

can lead to misunderstanding of the concept. 16 49 29 22 8 i15 Multiple representations of a physics concept

can support physics learning when all the representations show all the information about the concept.

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Although the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability of 0.72 for scale one is reliable and indicated that the majority of participants responded in a similar way, it is also significant to identify the items that may have reduced the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability for scale one. In other words, the items that participants may have interpreted or understood differently due to its construct or depicted concept. Hence, as described in subsection 3.8.1, Item – Total Correlation Statistics were also calculated as part of the quantitative analysis to identify how items in one scale are correlated to each other (see Table 1H in Appendix H). Consequently, on the one hand, items four, five, six, seven and thirteen had high corrected item-total correlation greater than 0.40 while on the other hand, items one, two, three, eight, nine, 11, 12, 14 and 15 had corrected item – total correlation less than 0.40. Out of the items with values less than 0.400, item three and item 14 had the lowest. Hence, it is significant to analyse item three and item 14.

The majority of participants indicated they were uncertain while many others disagree and strongly disagree with the statement concept in item three. The majority of responses to item three were negative and were uncorrelated to the majority of positive responses to other items with item – total correlation higher than 0.400. For example, for item three, 19 out 124 participants disagree and 10 strongly disagree while 44 out of 124 participants were uncertain as shown in Table 4.2. That is a total of 77 participants or 58.9 percent of participants who were uncertain as well as disagree and strongly disagree with item three. In other words, more than half of the participants indicated that they were unsure or not able to use computer simulations to help learners to understand physics concepts.

This quantitative finding is significant to note in comparison to other findings from this study. For example, as indicated in subsection 5.3.3 in the qualitative findings, one of the important aspects of teaching physics was to develop learners’ understanding and skills to use technology. However, although some participants shared the view that teaching and developing learners’ understanding to use technology tools is important, the majority of participants indicated that they did not know how to use technology tools for teaching science and physics. This finding is similar to other studies such as Batane and Ngwako (2017) who found that only 10 percent of teachers in their study used technology in their classes. Similarly, Sade (2009) found that even technology

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teachers lack some knowledge in using technology tools as well as the definition of technology in the context of high school education in Solomon Islands.

Similar to item three, the majority of responses to item 14 were negative compared to the responses to other items in scale one. Although, the responses to item 14 were uncorrelated to the majority of responses to other items, the responses indicated that participants took time to read the statement and made a decision that supported their views in relation to other items in scale one. In fact, it is significant to note that the responses of the participants for item 14 were consistent with their views on other statements. As shown in Table 4.1, 49 participants disagree and 16 participants strongly disagree, that is, 52.4 percent of participants indicated that using multiple representations cannot lead to misunderstanding of physics concepts while the other 23 percent were uncertain and only 24 percent agree and strongly agree. Subsequently, this finding indicated that the majority of participants perceived that multiple representation can lead to better understanding of physics concepts. This supports the majority of responses to item seven and item 13 as shown in Table 4.2.

The frequencies of responses to each of the items are worth considering for the purpose of identifying common views or general trends for scale one. For example, for item one in Table 4.2, 92 out of 124 or 74.2 percent of participants agree that they understand how to use demonstrations to explain physics concepts. Additionally, 19 out of 124 or 15 percent of participants strongly agree. This indication can be inferred to represent a general trend. In other words, majority of participants held the view that they understood how to use demonstrations to explain physics concepts. Similarly, for item two, 81 out of 124 and 21 out of 124 agree and strongly agree respectively, that they understand how to use diagrams and graphs to explain physics concepts. That is a total of 82 percent of participants. Similar trends were indicated for items eight and nine as well as for item 11 for use of stories and item 12 for the use of everyday real objects.

In sum, it can be inferred from these descriptive statistics that the majority of science teacher participants for this study responded in a similar way. Their responses indicated that they perceived having some knowledge about how to teach physics concepts. Although item 14 is a negative statement, participants’ responses were consistent with other items with similar constructs and concepts. However, responses

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to item three is inconsistent with views highlighted in the qualitative findings in subsection 5.3.3. While qualitative findings suggested that understanding technology is significant in science education, the quantitative findings indicated that the majority of participants were not familiar with technology tools like computer simulations in teaching physics concepts.

4.3.2 Knowledge of Learners’ Understanding of Physics Concepts