Talking Circuits

The Development and Assessment of a Digitally-Scaffolded, Collaborative Method for Teaching and Learning Electrical Circuits in Early Secondary Schools
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-3-8325-6008-9
Verlag: Logos

Buch, Englisch, Band 394, 327 Seiten, PB, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 210 mm

Reihe: Studien zum Physik- und Chemielernen

Learning about electric circuits demands abstract thinking, new vocabulary and using concepts that contrast with learners' prior knowledge. Drawing on helpful ideas from everyday experiences with pressure, such as bike tyres and balloons, and evidence from cognitive science, I present an accessible approach using the electron gas model for the first time in English.

Building on the design principles of digital tools and collaborative learning, I designed a tablet-based system to scaffold small-group talk to foster conceptual change: ``Talking Circuits''. This prompting tool enabled real-time assessment of student-student talk, so that lengthy and expensive collaborative learning interventions could be more easily implemented. In a comparative study of 228 learners, aged 12 to 14, I compared two conditions taught using the electron gas model: one using standard classroom materials and the second adding the ``Talking Circuits'' application. Concept knowledge and motivation were measured in pre- and post-tests.

Results show no significant changes in learning outcomes. The only statistically significant, albeit small, changes were reductions in perceived competence. This tentatively points to the need for longer implementation timeframes and teacher professional development. Learning electricity is demanding; conceptual change likely needs more time than typical British timetables allow.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weatherby, Thomas Sean

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Bildungssystem Prüfungen und Beurteilungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Pädagogische Psychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Methoden des Lehrens und Lernens
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Entwicklungspsychologie Pädagogische Psychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik E-Learning, Bildungstechnologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Allgemeine Didaktik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Forschungsmethodik, Wissenschaftliche Ausstattung
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Elektromagnetismus Elektrizität, Elektrodynamik
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Bildungssystem Curricula: Planung und Entwicklung

Über Autor(innen)

Thomas Sean Weatherby is a British physics education researcher and teacher educator. He studied physics at the University of Oxford and the Technical University of Munich and completed his PGCE at the University of York alongside his doctorate in physics education from Goethe University Frankfurt. His research focuses on collaborative, digitally supported learning and on the design and validation of diagnostic instruments for conceptual understanding. His dissertation, Talking Circuits, develops and evaluates a tablet-based scaffolding tool within a sequence of lessons on simple electric circuits at lower secondary level and was recognised with a BJET Fellowship. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at Goethe University Frankfurt, he continues to work on projects investigating augmented-reality support in physics labs and the cross-cultural validation of concept inventories.