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AustralasianJournalofEducationalTechnology
2006,22(3),336354.

AJET22

Promotingconceptualchangethroughactivelearningusing
opensourcesoftwareforphysicssimulations
MustafaBaser
AbantIzzetBaysalUniversity,Turkey
Thispaperreportsuponanactivelearningapproachthatpromotesconceptualchange
whenstudyingdirectcurrentelectricitycircuits,usingfreeopensourcesoftware,Qucs.
Thestudyinvolvedatotalof102prospectivemathematicsteacherstudents.Priorto
instruction,students'understandingofdirectcurrentelectricitywasdeterminedbya
subsetofapreviouslydevelopedmultiplechoiceconceptualtest.Allstudentsreceivedan
activelearninginstructionusingQucssimulations.Afterinstruction,thesametestwas
administeredtothestudentstodeterminetheeffectivenessoftheinstructionthey
received.Pairedttestanalysesshowedthatstudents'progressonunderstandingofdirect
currentelectricitywassignificant.Asixweekdelayedposttestrevealedthatthis
observedimprovementpromisedtobedurable,atleastintheshortterm.Students'
evaluationofusingQucsisalsoreported.

Introduction
Althoughphysicsresearchersfrequentlyusefreeopensourcesoftwareintheirresearchandpreparing
theirresearchreports(e.g.,Octave,Gnuplot,LaTeX),articlesdescribinghowtouseopensourceasa
teachingresourcearerelativelyrare.Freeandopensourcesoftware(F/OSSorFOSS)issoftware
whichisliberallylicensedtogranttherightofuserstostudy,change,andimproveitsdesignthrough
theavailabilityofitssourcecode(forexampleseehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOSS).QucsisFOSS
forsimulatingcomplicatedanalogelectriccircuits.AlthoughQucsisnotdesignedforteachingsimple
electriccircuits,thispaperprovidesevidencethatitcanbeusedbyphysicseducatorstobuildactive
learningenvironmentsforteachingsimpleelectriccircuits.
Physicseducatorsknowthatstudentscometophysicsclasseswitharangeofmisconceptions(Novak,
2002).Passivelearningenvironmentsintraditionalinstructiondonothelpstudentstoattain
conceptualchange(e.g.Eryilmaz,2002Ligeoisetal.,2003).Misconceptionsarisefromprior
experiencesandmisinterpretationsofinformationathand(Tsai,2001Sungur,Tekkaya&Geban,
2001),resultinginnaiveunderstandingsthatareinconsistentwiththescientificview(Duit,2002).In
general,misconceptionsareresistanttochange(Ronen&Eliahu,2000).Changingstudents'concepts
isnotsimplytheaddingofnewinformation,butisaprocessthatenablesstudentstosynthesise
modelsintheirownminds,beginningwiththeirexistingexplanatoryframeworks(Vosniadou,2002).
AccordingtoChiandRoscoe(2002),conceptualchangeisrepairofmisconceptions.Startingwith
naiveconceptions,theinstructionmusthelpstudentstoidentifytheirfaultyconceptionsandrepair
them.Inthisview,misconceptionsaremiscategorisationsofconcepts,soconceptualchangeisthe
reassignmentofconceptstocorrectcategories.Thus,physicsinstructorsneedtosearchforanew
philosophyinwhichlearnersareactivelyconstructingtheirownknowledge(Jongetal.,1998),and
instructorsrecognisestudents'previousdifficulties(Cataloglu,2006).Thesearethekeyconceptsof
constructivismwherestudents'areencouragedtoconstructtheirownknowledgebasedontheir
existingknowledgeandthroughanactiveparticipation.

Studiesondirectcurrentelectricity
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Theabstractnatureofconceptsinelectricityleadsstudentstodevelopmanymisconceptionsrelatedto
conceptsofcurrent,potentialdifference,completecircuit,andpowerdissipatedwithinacircuit
element.Thesemisconceptionshavebeenthefocusofmanystudiesinphysicseducation(e.g.,
McDermott&Shaffer,1992aLee&Law,2001Engelhardt&Beichner,2004Sencar&Eryilmaz,
2004Periago&Bohigas,2005),arecommontobothstudentsandteachers,andareobservedin
variouscountries(Shipstoneetal.,1998).
Manyyoungstudentsconsideredthatasinglewireisenoughtocarrycurrentfromthepositive
terminalofthebatterytoabulb(sinkmodel,Fredette&Lochhead,1998).Alternatively,some
studentsthinkthatcurrentscomingfrompositiveandnegativeterminalmeetatthebulb,areusedup
inthebulbandshineit(clashingcurrent,Osborne,1983).Manystudentsthoughtthatcurrentflowsin
onedirectionaroundthecircuitandisbeingusedupsolessisavailabletootherelementsfurther
alonginthecircuit(sequencemodel,Shipstoneetal,1984attenuationmodel,Osborne,1983).When
studentsareaskedtodeducepotentialdifferencefromresistanceandcurrentinformation,mostof
themreliedonlyoncurrent,andignoredorunderestimatedtheimportanceofresistanceinformation
(Ligeois&Mullet,2002Ligeoisetal.,2003).Thiscausedanothermisconceptionthat,inanopen
circuit,thereisnopotentialdifference(Engelhardt&Beichner,2004).Studentsalsohavemany
difficultiesinanalysingelectriccircuits.Forexample,ifacircuitismodified,theytendtoanalyse
onlythemodifiedpartofthecircuit(localistapproach)ratherthanthewholecircuit(Cohen,Eylon&
Ganiel,1983).Studentsalsohavedifficultywithelectricdiagramsandshortcircuit.Acompletelistof
students'difficultiesandmisconceptionsrelatedtodirectcurrentelectricityisprovidedbyEngelhardt
andBeichner(2004).
Studiesshowedthattraditionalelectricitycoursesdoesnotmuchalterstudents'misconceptions(e.g.,
Jaakkola,Nurmi&Lehtinen,2005Jaakkola&Nurmi,2004Ligeois&Mullet,2002).Evans(1978)
suggestedateachingstrategywhichenforcesqualitativeunderstandingofelectriccircuits.Evansused
batteriesandbulbsasteachingmaterial.UpcomingresearchersusedEvans'teachingstrategiesthat
utilisebatteriesandbulbsasteachingmaterials,tofosterunderstandingofconceptsrelatedtosimple
electriccircuits(e.g.,Engelhardt,Gray&Rebello,2004Slater,Adams&Brown,2000McDermott
&Shaffer,1992b).Forexample,Ates(2005)appliedateachingstrategybasedonalearningcycle
methodthatincludedbatteriesandbulbs.Hefoundthatprovidingconstructivistteachingwith
batteriesandbulbsusedasprimaryteachingmaterialswaseffectiveinincreasingstudents'
understandingofsimpleelectriccircuits.Othermethodsthattakestudents'misconceptionsinto
accountseemstobeeffectiveforchangingmisconceptionsrelatedtotheelectriccircuits.For
example,WangandAndre(1991)demonstratedthattextsdevelopedforfacilitatingconceptual
changeimprovedacquisitionofqualitativeconceptsaboutsimpleelectricalcircuits.Laboratorybased
activitiesimprovestudents'conceptualunderstandingofcurrentelectricity(McDermott&Shaffer,
1992b).Ontheotherhand,somedeepmisconceptionsmaynotbealteredbydirectexperiencewith
therealelectriccircuits(Ronen&Eliahu,2000).

Computersimulationsandactivelearning
Ingeneral,traditionalphysicsexperimentsaimatconvincinglydemonstratingconcepts.Thismeans
thattheresultobtainedfromtheexperimentshouldagreesufficientlywellwiththepredictedvalueto
persuadethestudentthattheconceptistrue.Owingtoapparatusormethodreasons,agreementis
oftennotsatisfactory.Thus,studentsareusuallyleftquestioningwhythereissuchadiscrepancy
(Sethi,2005).Thismaycausestudentstodisbelievetheexperimentthattheycarriedoutandthe
fosteringofconceptualchangefails.However,computersimulationsprovideexactagreementwith
thepredictedoutcomes,thusreinforcingstudents'understandingofrelationshipsbetweenvariables.
Constructivistapproachesemphasiseactivelearning(Donaldson,2005)whichisdescribedas
"providingopportunitiesforstudentstomeaningfullytalkandlisten,write,read,andreflectonthe
content,ideas,issues,andconcernsofanacademicsubject"(Meyers&Jones,1993,p.6).Onewayof
creatinganactivelearningenvironmentistheuseof"Whatif..."questions(IDS,2002,p.81
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Sokoloff&Thornton,1997).Computersimulationscanbeusedtobuildsuchanenvironment.For
example,Mzoughietal.(2005)usedWebTopwith"whatwillhappenif..."kindsofquestions,to
provideanidealmechanismforcreatinganactivelearningenvironment.Studiesshowedthat
computersimulationscontributetostudents'understandingofphysicsconcepts.Dorietal.(2003)
indicatedthatvisualisingabstractconceptsinphysicsbysimulationsenhancesstudents'conceptual
understanding,andpromotesactivelearning.Studentsintheirstudysaidthatutilisingcomputer
simulationscontributedtotheirconceptualunderstanding.Sethi(2005)explainedhowtosetup
virtuallaboratoriestoenhancelearninginphysics.Papaevripidou,HadjiagapiouandConstantinou
(2005)usedcomputersimulationstofosterconceptualunderstandinginconservationofmomentum.
Lee,NicolandBrooks(2004)indicatedthatPhyslets(undated)areveryusefulforcorrectingstudent
misconceptions.Physlets(PhysicsApplets)aresmall,flexibleJavaappletsdesignedforscience
education.Jaakkola,NurmiandLehtinen(2005)usedElectricityExplorationTooltosimulateelectric
circuitsandshowedthatacomputersimulationwasabletoimprovestudents'understandingofcurrent
electricitycomparedtothelaboratorywork.

Freeopensourcesoftware(FOSS)inphysicseducation
Thompson(2002,p.101)explainedtheimportanceoftheuseofFOSSineducationintheseterms:
...opensourcesoftwarewillprovidenewandexcitingpossibilitiesforeducators.
Obviously,thefreeorlowcostavailabilityofopensourcesoftwarehasgreatappealfor
educatorsatalllevels...theopportunityprovidedbyopensourcesoftwareforeducation
toadaptsoftwaretotheneedsoftheirstudents.Inthesamewayateachermightadapta
lessonplantohisorherneedsopensourcesoftwaremayprovidetheopportunityto
adaptasoftwareprogram.
Moelter(undated)fromCaliforniaPolytechnicStateUniversityusesfreeopensourcesoftware,
Vpython,simulationstodiscusswhattoexpectinadvanceofshowingtheresult.VPythonisusedasa
teachingmaterialbySalgado(undated)attheDepartmentofPhysics,SyracuseUniversity.
Sethi(2005)demonstratedthatphysicseducatorscanutilisefreeopensourcesoftwaretosetup
virtualphysicslaboratoriesthatcontributestudents'understandingofdifficultphysicssubjects.
Sanchez(2005)introducedLinuxandotherFOSSwithspecialemphasisuponphysicsresearchand
education.CatalogluandBaser(2005)usedFOSStoteachvectorstofreshmanphysicsstudents.They
concludedthatthesoftwaretheyusedenhancedstudents'understandingofvectors.Anothersimilar
studywasdonebyCataloglu(2006).HefoundthatstudentswhoutilisedFOSSintheirlearning
performedbetterthanstudentswhodidnot.
Mosteducationalsoftwarethatsimulateselectriccircuitsimplementsonlypredefinedcircuits(e.g.
DCCircuitsChallenge).Thesetypesofsimulationsfailtocreateactivelearningenvironments
becausestudentscannotalterthecircuits.Instructorscannotask"whathappensifwemodifythe
circuit..."kindsofquestionstobuildanactivelearningenvironment.
SpiceisageneralpurposeFOSScircuitsimulationprogramfornonlinearDC,nonlineartransient,and
linearACanalyses.TheuseofspiceinelectriccircuitlessonsissuggestedbyKuphaldt(2006)inhis
LessonsinElectricCircuitswhichisaseriesoffreetextbooksonthesubjectsofelectricityand
electronics.Usingspiceisnoteasybecauseitrequiresthewritingofa'netlist'whichdescribesa
circuit.Thisnonvisualpropertyofspiceinhibitsitsuseinelementaryphysicscourses.Qucsisan
integratedcircuitsimulatorhavingagraphicaluserinterface(GUI)forcircuitsetup,tosimulatethe
largesignal,smallsignalandnoisebehaviorofthecircuit.Afterthatsimulationhasfinishedonecan
viewthesimulationresultsonapresentationpageorwindow.AssettingupacircuitinQucsisvery
easy,itispossibletouseitwithlittledifficultyinfirstyearphysicscoursestosimulatecircuits.
GEDAisanotherFOSSvisualcircuitsimulatorthatcanbeusedinsteadofQucs.Onecanusesimilar
commercialcircuitsimulatorstobuildactivelearningenvironmentsandpromoteconceptualchange.
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Forexample,PspiceandCircuitMakerareothercommercialcircuitsimulatorsverysimilartoQucs.
However,thisstudyconcentratesuponfreeopensourcesoftwaretopromoteconceptual
understanding,andthusQucswaschosenasthecircuitsimulatorinsteadofacommercialequivalent.

Method
Purpose
Thefirstpurposeforthisstudyistoinvestigatethebuildingofanactivelearningenvironment
utilisingQucsFOSSforsimpleDCcircuitsimulations.Thesecondpurposeistotesttheimmediate
anddelayedcontributionofQucssimulationstostudents'understandingofDCcircuits.
Subjectsandsetting
Thestudentsparticipatinginthisstudywerepreserviceelementarymathematicsteacherstudents,
enrolledintwoclassesofascienceeducationcourseatAbantIzzetBaysalUniversity(n=102,
male=59,female=43).Asaminorareaforelementarymathematicsteachersisscienceeducation,they
hadpreviouslystudiedGeneralPhysicsII,acalculusbasedcoursethatincludesthetopicsofstatic
electricity,directcurrentcircuitsandmagnetism.Thestudentsrangedinagefrom2124yearsand
theirnativelanguageandlanguageofinstructionwasTurkish.Studentsworkedindividuallyon
computers.
Experimentaldesignandinstruments
ToexploretheeffectivenessofQucssimulationsondevelopingstudents'understanding,thedirect
currentelectricitytest(DCET)wasadministeredtoallstudentsatthebeginningoftheinstruction,
immediatelyafterinstructionandsixweeksafterinstruction.ThequestionsintheDCETwere
multiplechoiceitemswithfivealternatives,selectedfromversion1.2ofDIRECTdevelopedby
EngelhardtandBeichner(2004).Sinceitwouldnotbepossibletoteachalltheconceptsassessedby
DIRECTwithQucssimulations,theobjectiveslistedinTable1wereselected.DCETconsistedof16
questionsfromDIRECT,selectedaccordingtotheobjectivesinTable1.Thetestwastranslatedand
adaptedtoTurkishbytheauthor.ThetranslatedversionofDIRECTwasexaminedandverifiedby
twophysicsinstructorsexperiencedinEnglish.Priortothisstudy,thetestwasappliedtoatotalof
243elementaryschool,elementaryscience,andmathematicspreserviceteachers.Therange,mean,
standarddeviationandreliability(KR20)oftheTurkishversionwere625,14.90,4.61and0.71
respectively.
Table1:ObjectivesforDCETandnumberofquestionsassessingeachobjective
Objective

Numberof
questions

O1.ToIdentifyandexplainashortcircuit

O2.Tounderstandopencircuit

O3.Tounderstandandapplyconservationofcurrenttosimpledirectcurrent
circuits

O4.Tounderstandandapplythattheamountofcurrentisinfluencedbythe
potentialdifferenceprovidedbythebatteryandresistanceinthecircuit.

O5.Toapplytheconceptofpotentialdifferencetocircuits.

O4andO5combined

AllthetestswerewebbasedandservedbyaPythonscriptwrittenbyauthor.Attheendofthe
treatment,studentsweregivenanevaluationquestionnairecontaining11Likerttypeitems.The
purposeforthisevaluationwastoobtainstudents'perceptionsofusingQucsinlearningphysics.
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Theactivitysequence
Sincethestudentshadstudiedanelectricitycourse(GeneralPhysicsII)oneyearbeforethis
investigation,principlesofdirectcurrentelectricitywerediscussedwithstudentsfortwohoursincase
theyhadforgottentheprinciplesincludedincurrentelectricity.Inthisshortlecture,thefollowing
topicsweresummarised:potentialdifference,current,resistance,parallelandseriescombinationsof
resistorsandbatteries,measurementofcurrentandpotentialdifference,Ohm'sandKirchhoff'srules,
andpowerdissipationinacircuitelement.Somenumericalproblemswerealsosolved.Afterthis
shortintroduction,studentswereadministeredDCETasapretest.Afterthepretest,studentsintwo
classeswererandomlydividedintofourgroups,nearly26studentsineachgroup(atotaloffour
groups).Studentsfromeachgroupwerebroughttoacomputerlaboratoryhaving26computerswhere
eachworkedindividually.
Thestudentsspentsixhoursintwosessions,eachlastingthreehours(onesessionperweek)inthe
computerlaboratorytofulfillthetasks.Therewere19simulationtasksthatcoveredtopicsidentified
byobjectivesinTable1.Forsomeofthecircuitsimulations,experimentsfromPhysicsbyInquiry
(McDermottetal.,1996)wereused.
Inthefirsthourofthefirstcomputersession,studentswereintroducedtotheLinuxoperatingsystem
andsomeoftheeducationalsoftwareinKDEEdu,highqualityFOSSeducationalsoftwarecollection
fortheKDesktopEnvironment.Forexample,sincethesestudentswillbecomemathematicsteachers,
theywereadvisedaboutusingKmPlot,amathematicalfunctionplotterfortheKDE.Thepossibility
ofusingsomeothersoftwaresuchasKTurtleintheirteachingcareershadalsobeendemonstrated.
AlthoughtheparticipantshadnotusedLinuxOSpreviously,itwasnoticedthattheirmotivation
towardLinuxOSandKDEsoftwarewasveryhigh.
Simulationtaskswereassignedbytheresearcher.Theresearchertriedtoensurethatcollaborative
learningdidnottakeplacewhilestudentsperformedthegiventask.Afterthestudentsfinishedeach
taskindividually,awholeclassdiscussionwasconductedtoprovideanopportunityforthemtoreflect
ontheirfindings.
ThenextstepwastointroduceQucstostudents.AnextensiveTurkishtutorialonusingQucsfor
beginnerswaspreparedbytheauthor.Studentsusedthistutorialassupplementarymaterial
throughouttheirstudywithQucs(inTurkish,athttp://mbaser.web.ibu.edu.tr/Qucs/,translationbythe
author).Asanintroduction,studentssetupasimplecircuitcontainingabattery,aresistorandan
ammeterasshowninFigure1.FiguresgivescreenshotsforanEnglishreaderalthoughthestudents
usedtheTurkishversionofQucs.

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Figure1:AsimplecircuitsimulationwithQucs
AfterthefirstcircuitwithwhichstudentslearnedusingQucstosimulateelectriccircuits,students
asked"whathappens...ifI..."questionstobuildanactivelearningenvironmentasSokoloffand
Thornton(1997)suggested.Thefirstquestionwas"Whathappenstothecurrentreadbytheammeter
ifIaddanequivalentresistorinseriestothefirstresistor?"Studentssetupthecircuitandobserved
thechangeinthecurrentprobedbytheammeter.Studentswereaskedtoinferthechangeinpower
dissipationinthefirstresistoraftermodification.Thenstudentswereaskedtoaddanotherseries
resistortothecircuit.Someofthequestionsforwere:
WhatwillhappentocurrentpassingthroughR2ifIshortcircuitR1?
WhatwillhappentothepowerdeliveredtocircuitbythebatteryifIopenthebranch
connectingR3?
WhatwillhappentothepotentialdifferenceacrossresistorR2ifIaddanotherequivalent
batteryinseriestothefirstbattery?
WhatwillhappentothepotentialdifferenceacrossresistorR2ifIaddanotherequivalent
batteryinparalleltothefirstbattery?
AsanexamplestudentsfirstsetupthecircuitshowninFigure2whereallcircuitcomponentsare
identical.Inthiscircuittwoparallelresistorsareconnectedinseriestoanotherresistor.When
studentswereaskedtoexplainthechangeincurrentthroughR1whenR2isshortcircuited,most
tendedtoanalyselocally.Thatis,theyconsideredonlychangesthroughR3andrespondedthat
currentthroughR1remainsthesame.Whenstudentssimulatedthechange,theysawthatcurrent
throughR1changesaswellasthroughR3.Thesetypesofactivitiesprovideameansforattainingan
activelearningenvironmentandpromotingconceptualunderstanding.

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Figure2:Twoparallelresistorsconnectedinseriestoathirdresistor
TherewasnovoltmeterobjectinQucstomeasurepotentialdifferenceacrossacircuitelementwhen
thisstudywasmade.Instead,Qucscanmeasurepotentialonapointwithrespecttoground.Itwas
speechlessforstudentswhentheyfirstencountered"potentialonapoint".Butsubsequentinformation
providedforthemmakestheconceptofpotentialonapointclear.Thisreliedonananalogyfor
potentialdrop,asdepictedinFigure3.

Figure3:Ladderanalogyforpotentialdropinelectriccircuits
Thisanalogyenablesstudentstounderstand"potentialdrop"aswellasthecauseofcurrentinacircuit
element.Afterthisanalogyandmeasuringpotentialdropincircuits,manyparticipantsinthisstudy
madestatementssuchas"BeforethisanalogyIalwaysthoughtthatthecauseofpotentialdifference
acrossacircuitelementisthecurrentflowingthroughit.ButnowIcansafelysaythat,thecurrent
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throughacircuitelementisduetothepotentialdifferenceacrossit."
Aftertwosessionstotalling6hourswerecompleted,theDCETwasadministeredasaposttest.The
evaluationquestionnairewasgivenalso.

Results
Developmentofstudentsunderstandingindirectcurrentelectricity
ToevaluatetheeffectivenessofQucssimulations,allstudentswereadministeredDCETbeforethe
treatmentandafterthetreatment.Asixweekdelayedposttestalsowasadministeredtoassess
whetherthechangeinachievementwasdurable.ThedatawasanalysedbyusingRweb,aweb
interfaceforR,afreesoftwareenvironmentforstatisticalcomputingandgraphics.Pairedttestwas
usedtoevaluatestudents'progressinunderstandingofdirectcurrentelectricityconceptsasmeasured
byDCET.TheanalysisofdataforcomparisonofpreandpostDCETscoresisshowninTable2.
Table2:Measuresobtainedfromtestingofsignificanceofthedifference
betweenpreandpostmeansofdirectcurrentelectricitytest(DCET)
Tests
PreDECT

mean

df

tvalue

102

7.25

2.22

101

16.33

0.00*

10.55

2.08

PostDECT
*p<0.05

Theresultsshowedthattherewasasignificantdifferencebetweenthepreandposttestmeanscores
ofthestudentswhoreceivedactivelearninginstructionwithQucssimulations(Figure4).Itcanbe
concludedthatposttestscoresweresignificantlyimproved:theaveragepercentofcorrectresponses
increasedfrom45.3%to65.9%,resultinginaveragenormalisedgain,<g>=0.38.Theoverallaverage
normalisedgain(seeAppendixforadescription)forstudentsinthisstudywasinthe"medium"
categoryasdefinedbyHake(1998).Gainsforindividualobjectives(Table3)showedleast
improvementforobjective4andpairedttestanalysesrevealedthatitwasnotsignificant.

Figure4:ProportionsofcorrectresponsesinpreDCETandpostDCETbyobjectiveaslistedin
Table1
Table3:AveragenormalisedgainbyobjectiveonDECT
Objective
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O1

0.4

Medium

O2

0.3

Medium

O3

0.2

Low

O4

0.1

Low

O5

0.6

Medium

Thequestionsforassessingobjective4wererelatedtopowerdissipationincircuits.Forexample,in
onequestion,whereallcircuitelementsareidentical,abulbisconnectedtoabatteryinthefirst
circuit.Inthesecondcircuit,twobulbsinserieswereconnectedtoabattery.Studentswereaskedto
comparethebrightnessofthebulbs.Morethan90%ofthestudentsselectedanincorrectanswerfor
thisquestion.Thisindicatedthatstudentsstillthoughtthatthebrightnessofabulbwasdirectly
relatedtothecurrentpassingthroughit(I)ratherthanpowerconsumedinthebulb(I2R).Thus,itcan
beconcludedthattheinstructionbasedonQucssimulationsfailedtochangemisconceptionsrelated
topowerconsumptioninacircuit.Asthisresultwasunexpected,sevenstudentswhohadgiven
incorrectanswerstothisquestionwereinterviewed.Studentswereaskedtoexpresstheirreasoning
andallconfirmedtheirincorrectconceptionofadirectrelationshipbetweenthecurrentandthe
brightnessofabulb.
Thegreatestgainwasobtainedwithobjective5.Thequestionsforobjective5wererelatedto
comparisonsofpotentialdifferencesbetweentwopointswhenacircuitismodifiedorinanopen
circuit.Forexample,inonequestion,studentswereaskedaboutapotentialdifferenceacrosstwo
pointswhereacurrentdoesnotexist.Inthepretest,84.3%ofthestudentsselectedzeropotential.
Whenstudentswereaskedtorevealtheirreasoning,theystatedthat"Potentialdifferenceequals
currenttimesresistance.Sincethereisnocurrent,potentialdifferenceiszero".Thiswayofthinkingis
consistentwiththeresultsobtainedbyLigeoisetal.(2003).Almostallstudents(95.1%)answered
thisquestioncorrectlyintheposttest.Thetreatmentseemedtobesuccessfulinchangingthis
misconception.
Table4:Measuresobtainedfromtestingofsignificanceofthedifferencebetween
postanddelayedpostmeansofdirectcurrentelectricitytest(DCET)
Tests
PostDECT

mean

df

tvalue

102

10.55

2.08

101

1.77

0.80

10.41

1.82

DelayedpostDECT

PairedttestresultsforpostanddelayedpostscoresforDCETareshowninTable4.Analysesofdata
revealednosignificantdifferencebetweenpostanddelayedpostDCETscores.Thisresultsuggests
thatstudents'improvedunderstandingofelectriccircuitswasdurable.Themeanoftheretention
DCETwas10.41andaveragepercentofcorrectresponseswas65%.Itcanbesaidthatchangesin
conceptualunderstandingofdirectcurrentcircuitsbyQucssimulationswereretainedatleastinthe
shortterm.
Students'evaluationoftreatmentandQucs
Studentswereadministratedanevaluationquestionnairehaving11Likerttypeitems,afterthe
treatment.Studentsselectedoneofthealternatives:fullyagree(5),agree(4),undecided(3),notagree
(2),fullydisagree(1).TheresultsareshowninTable5.
Table5:StudentsevaluationsoftreatmentandQucs

Item
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Average
score
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(outof5)

Thecontributionofcomputersimulationstomyunderstandingofelectriccircuits
iscomparablethatofreallaboratoryexperiments.

4.54

Computersimulationscontributedtomyunderstandingofelectriccircuits.

4.58

Topicofelectricitybecomefunwithcomputersimulations.

4.70

IwouldbetterunderstandothersubjectsofphysicsifIhadchancetousecomputer
simulations.

4.48

ItiseasytomakeelectricsimulationswithQucs.

4.19

Thesoftwareweusedissufficientforelectriccircuitsimulations.

3.98

ThesoftwareweusedmatchestheobjectivesoftheGeneralPhysicsIIcourse.

4.48

Isuggestthesesimulationsforotherstudentswholearnelectriccircuits.

4.66

IenjoymakingsimulationsofelectriccircuitswithQucs.

4.52

10 IenjoysettingupcircuitsthatIwant.

4.55

11 Usingopensourcefreesoftwareinteachingmaycontributelearning.

4.81

AsTable5indicates,students'perceptionsarepositivetowardcomputersimulationsandQucs.All
studentsdidsimpleelectriccircuitexperimentsduringtheirGeneralPhysisIIcourseoneyearbefore
thisstudy.Highscoresonitem1indicatedthatstudentsalmostfullyagreedthatQucssimulations
contributedtotheirunderstandingofelectriccircuits,comparedwithreallaboratoryexperiments.
Althoughtheaveragescoreforitem6wasquitehigh,studentshadsomesuggestions.Forexample,
somewonderedwhytheycouldnotmeasurepotentialdifferenceratherthanmeasuringpotentialata
point(actuallytheyaremeasuringpotentialdifferencebetweenapointandtheground).This
suggestionwasquotedtothedevelopersofQucsandtheyintendtoimplementa'voltmeterobject'in
thenextversion.
Qucshasfacilitiesforuserstosave,retrieveandshareacircuitsimulation.Asstudentsseemedtolike
thesefeatures,theresearchersaskedwhethertheypreferredtousesavedcircuitsimulationsorsetup
theirowncircuits.Only17%ofthestudentsindicatedthattheypreferredtousesavedcircuit
simulations.Thispreferencecouldbethesubjectforfurtherresearch.

Conclusions
Thepurposeforthisstudywastoshowthepossibilityofbuildinganactivelearningenvironmentby
theuseoffreeopensourcesoftware,Qucs,andtoevaluateitseffectivenessuponstudents'
understandingofdirectcurrentelectriccircuits.TheresearcherfeelsthatQucsisatoolforimproving
students'conceptualframeworks.Itgivesanopportunityforinstructorstounderstandstudents'
thinkingandtofosterconceptualchange.Theanalysisofdataindicatedthatstudents'progressin
understandingdirectcurrentelectriccircuitswassignificantandwasretainedaftersixweeks.
Furthermore,students'perceptionsoftheexerciseandthesoftwarewereverypositive.
UsingQucssimulations,studentswereasked"whatwillhappenif..."kindsofquestionstocreatean
activelearningenvironment,asSokoloffandThornton(1997)proposed.Studentsalsowereaskedto
analysecertainelectriccircuits,toproducenumericalorqualitativeanswerstoquestions,andthento
useQucstosimulatethecircuitandchecktheiranswers.Furthermore,thedataobtainedfromQucs
simulationsisexactlywhatispredicted,toconvincethestudentsthataconceptistrue(Sethi,2005).
Theseactivitiesfosteredconceptualchange.
Computersimulationsshouldnotmaketheexperimentmoredifficult,eitherconceptuallyor
procedurally,butshouldratherprovideclearexplanationsandencourageunderstanding(Redish&
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Risley,1990).Accordingtostudents'evaluation,onemayconcludethatitiseasytomakecicuit
simulationswithQucs.
Traditionalmethodsteachingofelectriccircuitsdependhighlyonthemathematicalapplicationsof
Ohm'slaw,withoutgoingdeeperintoaqualitativeanalysisofitfromthepointofviewofphysics.
Simulationexercisescanbeused(Periago&Bohigas,2005)tocopewiththisproblem.Thisstudy
usedcomputersimulationstoencouragequalitativereasoningandshowedthattheactivitiespromoted
students'conceptualunderstandingofdirectcurrentelectricity.
Thesuccessofcomputersimulationsinchangingstudent'sconceptualunderstandingofdirectcurrent
electriccircuitsdoesnotindicateanypossibilityforcompletelyreplacingtraditionallaboratory
experiments(Forinash&Wisman,2005).Thetopicofelectricityissocomplexthatdevelopmentof
understandingofsimplecircuitsrequiresdirectexperiencesandhandsonactivitywiththerealelectric
circuits(Shipstoneetal.,1988).However,effectivecombinationsofreallaboratoryexperimentswith
QucssimulationsshouldbecheckedasJaakkola,NurmiandLehtinen(2005)didforElectricity
ExplorationTool.
Theresultofthisstudyprovidedevidencethatfreeopensourcesoftware,Qucsinthiscase,canbe
usedsuccessfullyinphysicsteaching.Qucscanalsobeusedtocheckthesolutionofchapterend
problemsfromatextbook.Otherpossibleusesmaybeinclassdemonstrationswhenteachingseries
andparallelconnectionsofresistors.

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Appendix:Averagenormalisedgain
Averagenormalisedgainisausefulmethodtoassesstheeffectivenessofinstruction.Average
normalisedgain,<g>,isdefinedastheratiooftheaverageimprovementinparticipantscoresfrom
pretesttoposttestwithrespecttothemaximumpossibleimprovement.<g>canbecalculated:

Hake(1998)arguesthatthenormalisedgainisameaningfulmeasureofhowwellacourseteaches
topicsinphysicstostudents.Hakeconsiderednormalisedgainsinthreecategories:"high"fora
normalisedgaingreaterthan0.7,"medium"between0.3and0.7,and"low"below0.3.Traditional
coursestypicallyhavelow<g>.
Author:DrMustafaBaser,DepartmentofSecondaryScienceandMathematicsEducation,Facultyof
Education,AbantIzzetBaysalUniversity,GolkoyKampusu,Bolu,Turkey.Web:
http://www.ibu.edu.tr/en/Email:mbaser@ibu.edu.tr
Pleaseciteas:Baser,M.(2006).Promotingconceptualchangethroughactivelearningusingopensource
softwareforphysicssimulations.AustralasianJournalofEducationalTechnology,22(3),336354.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet22/baser.html

[AJET22][AJEThome]
HTMLEditor:RogerAtkinson[rjatkinson@bigpond.com]
ThisURL:http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet22/baser.html
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