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Improving students’ ability to intuitively infer resistance from magnitude of current and potential difference information: A functional learning approach

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Abstract

The study examined the knowledge of the functional relations between potential difference, magnitude of current, and resistance among seventh graders, ninth graders, 11th graders (in technical schools), and college students. It also tested the efficiency of a learning device named “functional learning” derived from cognitive psychology on the knowledge of these relations. A total of 73 participants were confronted with pictorial electrical circuits. Their task was to learn to infer resistance from potential difference and magnitude of current information, without any recourse to formal computations. It was possible to characterize, in a simple way, each student’s initial conceptualizations about the relationships between potential difference, magnitude of current and resistance. These initial conceptualizations were very diverse, from the correct one to completely different ones to completely opposite ones. Learning was, to a certain extent, possible; but the learning sessions were more effective among students that had already been exposed to Ohm’s law at school. Learning had durable effects, at least in the medium term (5 weeks), and mainly among the older students. There was a good correspondence between the state of learning of the relationships and the ability to solve classical physics problems related to these relationships.

Résumé

Cette étude a examiné les connaissances des relations fonctionnelles existant entre la différence de potentiel, l’intensité du courant et la résistance électrique chez des élèves de 5ème, 3ème, 1ère de collège technique et chez des terminales de lycée. Elle a également évalué l'efficacité d’un outil pédagogique dérivé de la psychologie cognitive relatif à la connaissance de ces relations et dénommé « apprentissage fonctionnel ». Soixante-treize participants ont été confrontés à des schémas électriques. Ils devaient apprendre à inférer la résistance à partir d’informations sur la différence de potentiel et sur l'intensité du courant sans avoir aucun recours à des calculs formels. Les conceptualisations initiales de chaque étudiant ont été caractérisées. Elles étaient très diverses, des plus correctes aux plus incorrectes. L'apprentissage s’est avéré possible dans certaines limites, mais il s’est révélé plus efficace chez les étudiants qui avaient déjà suivi des cours sur la loi d'Ohm. Les effets de cet apprentissage ont été durables, au moins à moyen terme (cinq semaines), principalement chez les étudiants les plus âgés. Une bonne correspondance a été observée entre le niveau d’apprentissage des relations et la capacité à résoudre des problèmes classiques de physique liés à celles-ci.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France

    Gérard Chasseigne

  2. François-Rabelais University, Tours, France

    Caroline Giraudeau & Peggy Lafon

  3. Institute of Advanced Studies (EPHE), Paris, France

    Etienne Mullet

Authors
  1. Gérard Chasseigne
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  2. Caroline Giraudeau
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  3. Peggy Lafon
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  4. Etienne Mullet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gérard Chasseigne.

Additional information

Gérard Chasseigne. Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Laboratoire CLEA (EA-4296), 39 rue Taittinger, F-51036 Reims Cedex, France. E-mail: gerard.chasseigne@univ-reims.fr; Web site: http://www.unimv-reims.fr/CLEA/

Current theme of research:

Functional learning. Judgment and decision making.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Bonnin-Scaon, S., Lafon, P., Chasseigne, G., Mullet, E., and Sorum, P. (2002). Learning the relationship between smoking, drinking alcohol, and the risk of oesophageal cancer. Health Education Research, 17, 415–424.

Léoni, V., Mullet, E., and Chasseigne, G. (2002). Aging and intuitive physics. Acta Psychologica, 111(1), 29–43.

Chasseigne, G., Lafon, P., and Mullet, E. (2002). Aging and rule learning: The case of the multiplicative law. American Journal of Psychology, 115(3), 315–330.

Liégeois, L., Chasseigne, G., Papin, S., and Mullet, E., (2003). Improving high school students’ understanding of potential difference in simple electric circuits. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1129–1145.

Lafon, P., Chasseigne, G., and Mullet, E. (2004). Functional learning among children, adolescents and young adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88 (4), 334–347.

Caroline Giraudeau. Université François-Rabelais, Laboratoire Psychologie des Ages de la Vie (EA-2114), 3 rue des Tanneurs, F-37041 Tours Cedex. E-mail: caroline.giraudeau@univ-tours.fr

Current theme of research:

Lay conceptions of intelligence. Cognitive and developmental psychology.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Giraudeau, C., Chasseigne, G, Apter, M. J., and Mullet, E. (2007). Adult’s lay views about intelligence: A reversal theory approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 169–179.

Peggy Lafon. Université François-Rabelais, Département de Psychologie, 3 rue des Tanneurs, F-37041 Tours Cedex. E-mail: peggy.lafon@hotmail.fr

Current theme of research:

Functional learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Bonnin-Scaon, S., Lafon, P., Chasseigne, G., Mullet, E., and Sorum, P. C. (2002). Learning the relationship between smoking, drinking alcohol, and the risk of esophagal cancer. Health Education Research, 17, 415–424.

Chasseigne, G., Lafon, P., and Mullet, E. (2002). Aging and rule learning: The case of the multiplicative law. American Journal of Psychology, 115, 315–330.

Lafon, P., Chasseigne, G., and Mullet, E. (2004) Functional learning among children, adolescents and young adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88, 334–347.

Etienne Mullet. École Pratique des Hautes Études, Laboratoire Éthique et Travail, UMR CNRS 5263, 17 bis rue de Quefes, 31830 Plaisance, France. E-mail: etienne.mullet@wanadoo.fr; Web site: http://tinyurl.com/y8aed3f

Current theme of research:

Functional measurement.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Chartier, D., Mullet, E., and Grandjean, J. C. (1991). Effectiveness of a physics computer program on 15-year-old “technology” students. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 7, 219–232.

Leoni, V., and Mullet, E. (1993). Evolution of the intuitive mastery of the relationships betveen mass, volume, and density from nursery school to college. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 119, 389–412.

Muñoz Sastre, M. T., and Mullet, E. (1998). Evolution of the intuitive mastery of the relationship between base, exponent, and number magnitude in high school students. Mathematical Cognition, 4, 67–77.

Liégeois, L., and Mullet, E. (2002). High school students’ understanding of resistance in simple electric circuits. International Journal of Science Education, 24, 551–564.

Liégeois, L. Chasseigne, G., Papin, S., and Mullet, E. (2003). Improving high school students’ understanding of potential difference in simple electric circuits. International Journal of Science Education, 25, 1129–1145.

Financial support

This work was supported by the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (BQR grant), the Ethics and Work laboratory (Institute for Advanced Studies), and the University of Toulouse II-Le Mirail (CLLE-LTC, UTM, CNRS, EPHE).

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Chasseigne, G., Giraudeau, C., Lafon, P. et al. Improving students’ ability to intuitively infer resistance from magnitude of current and potential difference information: A functional learning approach. Eur J Psychol Educ 26, 1–19 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-010-0048-z

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