Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory

Abstract Objective: Electric potential difference is a fundamental concept in physics, yet students frequently experience conceptual difficulties in understanding it. Although previous research has documented common misconceptions through different assessment frameworks, relatively little is known about the structural quality of students' understanding as described by the SOLO taxonomy. Therefore, this study aimed to assess high school students' conceptual understanding of electric potential difference using the SOLO taxonomy and to identify the common misconceptions reflected in their responses. Method: The study employed a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The participants were 92 female high school students in grades 11 and 12. Data were collected using a researcher-developed open-ended diagnostic assessment ( ) aligned with the SOLO taxonomy. Written responses were analyzed to determine understanding levels and identify common misconceptions. Results: Most students demonstrated understanding at the unistructural and multistructural levels, with few reaching relational or extended abstract levels. Analysis revealed persistent conceptual difficulties in distinguishing electric potential difference from electric potential and electrical energy, highlighting students' fragmented knowledge.

Abstract This paper studied Iranian Physics education students’ understanding of the nature of science. The research is descriptive and was conducted through a survey study method. The sample of our study consisted of 94 students of Physics education in the second and third year of university. They were selected through random sampling from four classes at Isfahan University and Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University in Iran. For this purpose, 24 statements of the SUSSI questionnaire (Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry) were translated into Farsi. The statements were randomly arranged to form a new questionnaire. The validity of the new questionnaire was examined and approved and the Cronbach's alpha of the questionnaire was calculated as 0.738. In the data analysis phase, the mean score of each statement was calculated using the frequency and the numerical value of each response. The score of each component of the nature of science was determined by averaging the scores of the statements related to that component. The average score of each component expresses the formal or naïve or transitional view regarding that component. According to the results, while our subjects’ attitude to observation and deduction conformed to international standards of science education, they had some misunderstandings regarding the other components of scientific inquiry. As physics education students will become teachers and contribute to the future generation's view of science, it would be better to incorporate more educational activities into teacher education programs with the aim of improving the trainees’ conception of science.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the conceptual change model (CCM) on learning the basic concepts of Electrostatics. CCM is an active teaching method that puts emphasis on children's preconception. The underlying principles of CCM are derived from constructivist theory. The growing body of research shows that students’ knowledge about Physics has formal aspects rather than being useful and usable. Students encounter problems in understanding Physics concepts (such as static electricity), therefore their perception and understanding is often subject to misconception. Thus, Electrostatics was considered as the subject of this study. The study population comprised of female junior high school students. Design used in this study was the quasi- experimental method of Solomon four-group design. The samples selected conveniently and randomly were assigned to two experimental and two control groups. Researcher-made tests of academic achievement in three areas of knowledge, comprehension and application of concepts, were used as the data collection tools. Then, central and dispersion measures, the t-test and two-way analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses. Research findings showed that CCM teaching methods are superior to the traditional way of teaching and learning physics concepts in detecting and correcting misconceptions