Examination the pre-service physics teachers’ cognitive structure about the concept of “torque”

Abstract

In order to realize the exact learning, it is important to know that how the individuals learn and how they construct the knowledge in their minds. If the prior knowledge that existed already in the mind of the individuals overlaps with the newly learned knowledge so the exact learning takes place in the mind of the individuals. In this context, according to the constructivism, it can be said that the individuals constructed the new knowledge by linking the prior knowledge to the existing one in their minds. This study aims to investigate the cognitive structures of 32 pre-service physics teachers related to the concept of torque by using the qualitative research methods. The data collected through the word association test (WAT) and it was analyzed by using content analysis method. The cognitive structures of the pre-service physics students were determined by different categories at the end of the content analyses process.