The aim of this study is to ascertain what misconceptions N2 students have about DC resistive circuits
and how screencasts could effect on the rectification of these misconceptions. This study was
conducted at the Kathu Campus of the Northern Cape Rural Further Education and Training College
in the town Kathu in the arid Northern Cape. The empirical part of this study was conducted during
the first six months of 2013. A design-based research (DBR) method consisting of four phases was
used. DBR function is to design and develop interventions such as a procedure, new teachinglearning
strategies, and in the case of this study a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) tool (screencast)
with the purpose of solving a versatile didactic problem and to acquire information about the interventions
of the TEL tool (screencast) on the learning of a student. In the first and second phase of
DBR quantitative data for this research were gathered with the Determining and Interpreting Resistive
Electric circuits Concepts Test (DIRECT) in order to determine the four most common misconceptions.
The DIRECT test was conducted in the first trimester to find the misconceptions; the test was
conducted in the second trimester also to confirm the misconceptions. Further quantitative data were
collected from a demographic questionnaire. The qualitative data were collected by individual interviews
in the fourth phase of the research project. Phase three of this study was the development of
screencasts in the four most prominent misconceptions in DC resistive circuits of the students. The
respondents of this study were non-randomly chosen and comprised of two groups, one in the first
trimester of the year and one in the second trimester of the year, which enrolled for the N2 Electrical
or Millwright courses. The respondents were predominant male and representing the three main cultural
groups in the Northern Cape namely: Black, Coloured and White. The four misconceptions on
DC resistive circuits that were identified were: (i) understanding of concepts, (ii) understanding of
short circuit, (iii) battery as a constant current source, and (iv) rule application error. Screencasts clarifying
the four misconceptions were developed and distributed to the respondents. On the foundation
of the results of this research, it can be concluded that the students have several misconceptions
around direct current resistive direct current circuits and that the use of TEL like screencasts can be
used to solve some of these misconceptions. Screencasts could supplement education when they
were incorporated into the tutoring and learning for supporting student understanding. The results of
this research could lead to the further development and refinement of screencasts on DC resistive
circuits and also useable guidelines in creating innovative screencasts on DC resistive circuits. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/10955 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Beukes, Christiaan |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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