Unearthing student teachers’ Physics misconceptions during Work-Integrated Learning

This study explored student teachers’ Physics misconceptions during Work-Integrated Learning in high schools in South Africa. The sample in this work comprised eight final-year student teachers pursuing a Bachelor of Education degree and seven Postgraduate Certificate in Education students. An unstructured observation method was utilised to collect data during the lessons that were conducted by the participants. It was observed that a significant number of the participants had some misconceptions about constructs in Physics. Most of the misconceptions were confirmed in Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism. Some of participants claimed that the misconceptions emanated from prescribed textbooks and equally from their previous studies. A number of suggestions were made to rectify specific misconceptions in the discipline of Physics amongst the student teachers.


Introduction
Physics is generally viewed as a difficult subject to comprehend and master due to a myriad of reasons [1], [2].In South Africa, Physics is offered jointly with Chemistry under the discipline Physical Science for high school learners between grades 10 and 12.Over the years, the pass rate and quality of the grade 12 final matriculation results in Physical Science has been poor [3], [4].The study in [5] confirms that one of the main reasons for poor performance in Physical Science is that a significant number of teachers may not have specialized in teaching both Physics and Chemistry, and in this particular study, most of the teachers were not competent to teach Physics at the required level.There is an unstated expectation that a teacher must possess subject content knowledge that is beyond reproach.
This study closely follows the work that I previously did in [1] in connection with student teachers' Physics misconceptions.Previous studies have revealed and described the existence of misconceptions in all areas of Physics such as mechanics, thermodynamics and quantum physics [6].Most of the studies conducted pertain to Physics misconceptions that are held by school learners in South Africa [3], [4], [7], [8], [9].This study explores the misconceptions that are held by Physics pre-service teachers in the South African context.Thus, this work adds another dimension to the body of knowledge of Physics education that specifically examines and deals with the issues of Physics misconceptions possessed by pre-service teachers.Misconceptions may be regarded as propositions that provide an inaccurate comprehension of ideas, concepts, objects or events and usually arise from an individual's experiences [10].Researchers in [11] classify misconceptions into five types, and these are: preconceived notions, non-scientific beliefs, conceptual misunderstanding, vernacular misconceptions and factual misconceptions.
Preconceived notions are extensive conceptions that are rooted in our daily experiences [1].A typical example of the most prevalent of preconceived notions is that "particles of a solid do not move" [12].
Non-scientific beliefs include propositions learnt by learners from other teachings that are not rooted in empirical science.
Conceptual misunderstandings are impressions that arise when learners are exposed to scientific information in a way that does not challenge their own preconceptions and non-scientific beliefs.Consequently, learners end up creating defective models that are incomprehensible and ultimately confusing to them [1].
Vernacular misconceptions emanate from the usage of words that have one meaning in everyday life and a separate meaning in the scientific world.Common examples of such words include, "power", "work" and "energy" [1].
Factual misconceptions essentially arise from notions that are acquired during the formative years of a learner and remain entrenched and even ossified into adulthood.An example of a factual misconception is that lightning never strikes the same place twice [1], [11].
There are several ways that teachers could intervene to aid in clarifying learners' misconceptions, but before this can be achieved, educators need to generate techniques that help them in identifying the most common misconceptions that their learners may possess.
According to authors in [13], preconceptions are surprisingly resilient and may linger on in the learner's mind forever.Researchers in [14] established that learners' preconceptions are so powerful that in certain instances, they are preserved despite overwhelming and clear evidence to dispel them.Scholars in [15] argue that the lack of adequate science content knowledge that should be obtained at university cannot be made compensated through on-the-job textbook learning.
Although much effort has been expended in studying the reasons behind matriculant learners' poor performance in Physical Science, there is presently no literature that explores the role that student teachers' misconceptions in Physics play in the overall performance of learners in South Africa.This study therefore attempts to close this gap by locating misconceptions in Physics that student teachers may possess during the Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) experience in schools.

Methodology
This study utilized an unstructured observation method to collect data from eight final-year Bachelor of Education degree (B.Ed.) and seven Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Physical Science student teachers who were on WIL.I chose the observation method for this study because of its capacity to afford me direct access to the research phenomena, generation of rich research descriptions and appropriate levels of flexibility [16].In addition, the unstructured observation method also encouraged me to creatively collect the relevant information through numerous field notes.The WIL period for both groups of students was twelve (12) weeks long for the entire academic year.It comprised six consecutive weeks of practical teaching per semester.During WIL, I was assigned to assess the Physical Science student teachers on a variety of issues by using a standardized rubric.I then concurrently wrote separate notes during the lesson observations that were primarily aimed at identifying and clarifying Physics misconceptions that arose during the lessons.The sample in this work comprised eight (8) final-year student teachers pursuing a B.Ed. degree and seven (7) PGCE student teachers.It is crucial to note that both the B.Ed. and PGCE student teachers were in their final year of study since the normal study periods of the B.Ed. and PGCE programmes are four years and one year, respectively.It is also important to note that, in the South African context, both the B.Ed. and PGCE programmes are regarded as professional Initial Teacher Education (ITE) qualifications.Since I was allotted fifteen student teachers to assess during WIL for the entire academic year, the population was the same as the sample in this study.Pseudonyms (ST1 to ST15) are used to protect the identities of the participants.

Results and Analysis
During the WIL supervision period that stretched over two semesters in the academic year, I wrote several brief field notes from my observations.The field notes were particularly aimed at unearthing Physics misconceptions that were exhibited by the student teachers during their practical teaching lessons.
In one of the lessons, participant ST1 gave the following statement: "An object moving in a straight line at a constant speed in a given direction has constant velocity and therefore it also means that there are no forces acting on it…" This statement from participant ST1 was premised on the inaccurate belief that there is no distinction between a resultant force of 0 N and when there are no forces acting on an object that is in motion.In another different lesson, participant ST1 stated: "The force due to friction always opposes the motion of a body."This assertion appears to be widespread and after the lesson, I asked participant ST1 to clarify what that statement meant, and the participant told me that he obtained the information from one of the prescribed textbooks.I later on checked the stated textbook and indeed confirmed that the participant's claim was correct.This revelation was worrying, and I intend to extend this study in future to specifically investigate the prevalence of misconceptions in most of the recommended and prescribed Physics textbooks.
Participant ST2 in one of the lessons mentioned that: "A heavy object is hard to push because of its enormous weight".It is a given that heavy objects are really hard to push.However, it is not due to their weight that they are difficult to push, instead, it is due to their inertia.Studies presented by scholars in [17] and [18] confirm the prevalence of this misconception amongst both pre-service teachers and engineering undergraduate students.
During one of participant ST4's lessons, a learner asked the student teacher the following question: "… suppose an object is being acted upon by two separate forces as shown in the free-body diagram (Figure 1).Is it possible then that the body could be moving?"Participant ST4 responded by saying: "It is obvious that the object cannot have either horizontal or vertical motion since there are only two equal vertical forces that are acting on it.The object must certainly be at rest on a flat surface like a table, after all, we all know that an object with balanced forces will always be at rest."Participant ST4's reasoning is flawed since it is appreciated that a moving body that is acted upon by balanced forces continues to be in motion with the same velocity.The existence of this type of misconception is also reported in the works of [19] and [20] in their studies involving both high school and undergraduate university Physics students, respectively.Participant ST5 gave the following statement during one of the lessons on Electric Circuits: "Cells and batteries are constant current sources and current is consumed or used up by circuit components."Literature is replete with examples of the prevalence of this common misconception about batteries and current flow in electric circuits [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27].
Participant ST6 wrote a question on the board as follows: "Suppose two parallel wires 1 and 2 that are near each other carry currents of 1 A and 3 A in the same direction (Figure 2).Compare the forces that the two wires exert on each other." After a series of divergent answers and explanations had been given by the learners, participant ST6 summed up the discussions as follows: "… wire 2 exerts a stronger force on wire 1 than 1 exerts on 2." This statement showed that participant ST6 was unable to apply Newton's third law of motion accurately in an electromagnetics context.
In one of the lessons, participant ST7 gave the following statement: "A capacitor is a device that stores electric charges."After the lesson during formal discussion processes after observing student teachers' lessons, I asked participant ST7 to elaborate on the definition of a capacitor that he had given in class.ST7 claimed that he obtained the definition from one of the recommended textbooks and was also taught the same from one of his previous Physics modules.I could not independently verify the claims since the participant did not bring the alleged textbook to that lesson and it was also impossible to authenticate the other claim of having been taught a misleading definition from one of his previous modules.
Participant ST8 in one of the lessons explained that: "Different wavelengths of light possess different energies and therefore have different speeds."After the lesson, I probed participant ST8 to explain the basis of the argument regarding the flawed statement cited above.Participant ST8 stated: "Wavelengths that possess a lot of energy should move at higher speeds than those that have lower energies." The explanation was even more confusing, and it was difficult to detect the source of such a misconception.
Participant ST9 explaining about acceleration stated that: "Maximum acceleration occurs when an object reaches its maximum speed." The explanation was very disturbing in the sense that the student teacher who was about to join the teaching profession as a qualified educator lacked the basic understanding of Newton's laws of motion.
In one of the lessons, participant ST10 claimed that: "If the speed of an object remains constant, its acceleration will be zero."I was taken aback by this flawed statement since I was of the belief that the student teacher had mastered the subject content knowledge and should avoid perpetuating such common misconceptions.During the same lesson, the student teacher would interchangeably use the terms "speed" and "velocity" and certainly created an impression that both terms mean the same thing, that they were synonyms and could be used interchangeably.Previous studies by scholars in [28] and [29] confirm the extent of the prevalence of the belief that the terms "speed" and "velocity" are synonymous and thus mean one and the same thing.
Participant ST11 in explaining current flow in a circuit stated that: "The bulbs in a closed electric circuit consume the electric current flowing through them and that is why the bulbs get dimmer after some time."This misconception appears to be prevalent amongst many learners in South African classrooms as it appears to make "sense" of what happens when bulbs are connected in a circuit for a long time.This misconception is also reported in the studies by [30] and [31] Participant ST12 in a lesson about "Light and Waves" claimed that: "Black surfaces do not reflect any light and white surfaces do not absorb any light".The above misconception may be attributed to some long held inaccurate beliefs about the properties of black and white surfaces that may have been reinforced and subsequently ossified over time.

Discussion
This study showed that the most common misconceptions the student teachers possessed are in Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism.Although this is certainly disturbing, studies conducted elsewhere also confirm the prevalence of such misconceptions, even with qualified teachers [27], [32].Studies have also shown that teachers' deficiencies in accurate factual content and pedagogical content knowledge will impair students' learning and severely impact their ability to teach [33], [34], [35].
Of all the fifteen participants in this study, only four of them did not display any forms of misconceptions during their teaching practice lessons that I observed.It is important to also note that of these four, only one of them (ST3) was studying for a B.Ed. degree and the remaining three (ST13, ST14 and ST15) were pursuing their PGCE qualifications.
It is crucial that as trainers of student teachers, we should be aware of the prevalent misconceptions that students have so as to address them proactively.From this study, it is apparent that some of the misconceptions identified are deeply rooted and not easy to dislodge from the students' minds.Clearly, student teachers' misconceptions should be identified and corrected so that they are not eventually passed on to unsuspecting learners that the student teachers eventually teach after graduating.One way of addressing subject-specific misconceptions is for trainers of student teachers to adopt different strategies in teaching the most challenging Physics topics.At the core of these strategies, there should be ways of exploring the student teachers' misconceptions and then improving the overall conceptual understanding of such topics.A good example of the teaching strategies that could help identify and correct the misconceptions is by planning several micro-teaching lessons for the student teachers designed to address the misconceptions that may arise.
Another strategy of addressing this issue of misconceptions is for the high school Physical Science curriculum to be revisited so that the Physics topics are realigned for the maximum benefit of the learners, some of whom may eventually enroll as student teachers.For example, the current South African high school Physical Science curriculum's Physics content starts with the topics on Waves, Sound and Light.Mechanics topics are only dealt with in the third term, and this has proven to be problematic and thus sequencing of the topics should be revisited.
Tutorial sessions may also be fully utilized to identify misconceptions and eventually support the student teachers accordingly.Student teachers' trainers may also schedule sessions where the students debate their Physics ideas with their peers and pay attention to others' viewpoints and rationale.This is premised on the widely researched notion that peer instruction is highly beneficial to student learning.Another creative way of resolving the issue of misconceptions is for the trainer to task the student teachers to do some research on why their conception is not correct and provide feedback within reasonable timeframes.Students may also be given challenging activities where they are supposed to come up with concept maps that they should present and explain during formal learning classroom sessions.
Lastly, since there were some claims from some of the participants that their misconceptions arose from the content that they obtained from some recommended textbooks, it would be prudent to have a rigorous screening approach when selecting appropriate Physics textbooks for tuition.

Conclusion
This study showed that a significant number of student teachers held deep misconceptions about key Physics concepts.Most of the ensuing misconceptions were found to be in Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism.During the discussions after the lessons, some of the students openly stated that the misconceptions that they had arose from the information that they obtained from the prescribed textbooks, and others were adamant that their conceptions emanated from some of the modules that they had previously studied.It is not an easy task to tackle and address these ingrained misconceptions through simple teaching and lecturing techniques.Serious intervention strategies such as the mounting of several micro-teaching lessons and dedicated tutorial sessions need to be initiated to address this menacing challenge that certainly places the advancement of Physics education at risk.
The results of this study also overtly pointed out that some of the high school learners' misconceptions are passed on to them by their teachers who would have some deep-seated flawed conceptions on certain Physics phenomena and concepts.
In a follow-up to this study, I intend to examine a number of the prescribed textbooks to verify if indeed some of the misconceptions that the student teachers held originated from the recommended textbooks as alleged by some of the participants.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: A free-body diagram of an object