Student difficulties in the characteristics of mechanical waves: A case study of online learning in the Covid-19 pandemic era

Abstract

Online learning in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic forces students to adapt to new ways of learning. This situation has an impact on students’ mastery of concepts, especially in learning physics. This study aims to identify student difficulties with the mechanical wave characteristics concept in online learning in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. This case study used semi-structured interviews consisted of 8 mechanical wave characteristics concept understanding open-ended questions adapted from MWCS. The interviews were conducted with five eleventh grade high school students to identify their difficulties with the wave characteristics concept. A female student from a private high school, two female students, and two male students from two public high schools in two different regions. Data analysis was conduct by making transcripts, coding the transcripts, and drawing ideas from the codes. This study found that students had difficulty determining the role of frequency and amplitude in everyday sound phenomena. In addition, the participants did not realize that sound waves are longitudinal. In the context of wave velocity, students tend towards mathematical formulas oriented.