MAGNETISM TEACHING SEQUENCES BASED ON AN INDUCTIVE APPROACH FOR FIRST-YEAR THAI UNIVERSITY SCIENCE STUDENTS

Abstract

The study investigated the impact on student motivation and understanding of magnetism of teaching sequences based on an inductive approach. The study was conducted in large lecture classes. A pre- and post-Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism was conducted with just fewer than 700 Thai undergraduate science students, before and after being taught the concepts, in three academic years. For 2005 and 2006, overall, the students had a better understanding of concepts associated with electricity, but a majority of the students seemed not to understand magnetism after the teaching. Drawing on these findings, the teaching sequences of the magnetism topic were developed, and then implemented in the academic year 2007. The teaching sequences included demonstrations and visuals to help students infer rules and theories for themselves (inductive method). In addition, interactive notes, information on historical science discoveries about magnetic phenomenon, questions, student discussions, and magnetism problems were used to support student learning during lectures. Students in the academic year 2007 performed significantly better after the teaching. In addition, the students had a positive perception towards the teaching sequences, which allowed them to be involved more actively during lectures. © 2010 National Science Council, Taiwan.