Students’ profile of heat and temperature using HTCE in undergraduate physics

Abstract

Understanding heat and temperature are important to make strong fundamental of physics before understanding the other subject materials. This research aims to describe the students’ conception of heat and temperature using Heat and Temperature Conceptual Evaluation (HTCE) developed by Thornton and Sokoloff. This research subjects are 10 students of 3rd semester and 24 students of 5th semester Bachelor of Physics. The data collection methods are test and interview. The result are the students’ conception of heat and temperature, rate of cooling, calorimetry, rate of heat transfer, perception of hotness, specific heat capacity, change of phase, thermal conductivity. Students are getting difficult on understanding the concept of heat and temperature especially the concept of rate of cooling, change of phase, and rate of heat transfer. The average students’ correct answer is 44.88% of 34 students. The lowest mean score is the concept of RHT with the percentage of 17.65%. This research could be used to develop learning media on basic physics course.