Three-tier Diagnostic Test Research Articles

Exploring Pre-Service Elementary Science Teachers’ Conceptual Understanding of Particulate Nature of Matter through Three-Tier Diagnostic Test

The purpose of this study was to explore Pre-service Elementary Science Teachers‟ (PSTs) conceptual understanding of Particulate Nature of Matter (PNM) through a three-tier diagnostic test. Participants were 215 PSTs from Turkey. Data consisted of participants‟ responses to the Particulate Nature of Matter Test (PNMT). The PNMT consists of three-tier items. Students were asked to choose the correct choice in the first tier, and then to justify their choice of the answer provided in the second tier. Finally, they were asked to indicate the confidence level of their responses in the third tier. Results showed that the PSTs were not competent in their understanding of the PNM concepts. Moreover, some had strongly held misconceptions. Finally, the PSTs struggled to provide coherent answers to the items on the PNMT across three tiers.

Exploring Pre-Service Elementary Science Teachers’ Conceptual Understanding of Particulate Nature of Matter through Three-Tier Diagnostic Test

Exploring Pre-Service Elementary Science Teachers’ Conceptual Understanding of Particulate Nature of Matter through Three-Tier Diagnostic Test

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ONLINE THREE-TIER DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO ASSESS PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF CELLULAR RESPIRATION

This research reports the development of an online three-tier diagnostic instrument for pre-university students related to cellular respiration. To date, only few studies have been conducted to identify students’ alternative conception in the topic of cellular respiration. One of the contributing factors is due to lack of instrument developed to measure these alternative conceptions. Three-tier tests are used as assessment tools for lecturers to determine students’ alternative conceptions related to cellular respiration and their knowledge and understanding about the concepts. The research incorporates both qualitative and quantitative methods. The instrument was developed in five phases: (1) construction of items, (2) pilot study, (3) validation of instrument, (4) transforming the instrument into an online assessment tool, and (5) the administration of the Online Diagnostic Tool (ODiT). The Cellular Respiration ODiT consists of three tiers: answer and reasoning tiers to measure “content knowledge” and “explanatory knowledge” respectively, and a third tier that measures the level of confidence of pre-university students. Analysis of the students’ responses demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity of the instrument. The research also shows that both students and lecturers benefit when online diagnostic tests are implemented appropriately. Key words: biology alternative conception, online diagnostic tool, three-tier diagnostic test.

Development and use of a three-tier diagnostic test to assess high school students’ misconceptions about the photoelectric effect

Background: In the last few decades, researchers have turned their attention to students’ understanding of scientific concepts at different school levels. The results indicate that the learners have different ideas, and most of them are inaccurate in terms of those generally accepted by the scientific community.Purpose: This study was undertaken to describe the development, validation and use of a three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test (PEMT) to reveal Turkish high school students’ common misconceptions in terms of the photoelectric effect.Sample: In this study, 243 students (male=86, female=137) from six high schools made up the sample which comprised approximately 76% of the 11th grade population.Design and Methods: Based on findings from the literature, open-ended questions and interviews, the PEMT was developed and administered to 243 students. The data was analysed descriptively.Results: The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the scores was estimated as .83. Construct, content and face validities were established by senior experts and through the use of statistical techniques. The findings denoted that the test is a valid and reliable measure of students’ qualitative understanding of the photoelectric concept. The results revealed that the majority of the students demonstrated a limited understanding of the photoelectric effect and have five prevalent misconceptions. These are: (1) an increase in intensity would provide the photon with enough energy to release electrons; (2) the photoelectric effect results from the ionization of atoms through the interaction with light; (3) a light beam whose photons have smaller energies than the work function would release electrons with the help of a voltage source; (4) the number of photoelectrons depends on the energy of the photon and (5) the photon has kinetic energy and it depends on the colour of light. The last two misconceptions were discovered in the current study.Conclusion: The findings indicated that the PEMT is a reliable and valid measuring tool for investigating high school students’ conceptual understanding and misconceptions. Future studies could use the PEMT as a tool for assessing the misconceptions of high school students, pre-service science or pre-service physics teachers.

LEARNING CYCLE MODEL TO FOSTER CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN CELL DIVISION AND REPRODUCTION CONCEPTS

What should teachers do to ensure a student construct meaningful understanding in cell division and reproduction concepts? This research examined the effect of 5E learning cycle on 10th grade students’ understanding of cell division and reproduction concepts and their alternative conceptions on these concepts. Mixed methods research design was utilized for this aim. Eight classes with 228 students from two public high schools were selected conventionally. Experimental groups received learning cycle (LC) and control groups received conventional teaching (CT) throughout the 10 weeks. A three-tier diagnostic test was administered to both groups as pre and post-tests. After the treatment, 12 students were interviewed semi-structurally. The results revealed that learning cycle is superior to conventional teaching on promoting conceptual change along with increasing understanding. The present research recommends teachers utilize learning cycle to improve students’ understanding and remediate their alternative conceptions. Key words: alternative conceptions, biology education, cell division, learning cycle, 5E model.

Development of three-tier heat, temperature and internal energy diagnostic test

Background:Misconceptions are major obstacles to learning physics, and the concepts of heat and temperature are some of the common misconceptions that are encountered in daily life. Therefore, it is important to develop valid and reliable tools to determine students’ misconceptions about basic thermodynamics concepts. Three-tier tests are effective assessment tools to determine misconceptions in physics. Although a limited number of three-tier tests about heat and temperature are discussed in the literature, no reports discuss three-tier tests that simultaneously consider heat, temperature and internal energy.Purpose:The aim of this study is to develop a valid and reliable three-tier test to determine students’ misconceptions about heat, temperature and internal energy.Sample:The sample consists of 462 11th-grade Anatolian high school students. Of the participants, 46.8% were female and 53.2% were male.Design and methods:This research takes the form of a survey study. Initially, a multiple-choice test was developed. To each multiple-choice question was added one open-ended question asking the students to explain their answers. This test was then administered to 259 high school students and the data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The students’ answers for each open-ended question were analyzed and used to create the choices for the second-tier questions of the test. Depending on those results, a three-tier Heat, Temperature and Internal Energy Diagnostic Test (HTIEDT) was developed by adding a second-tier and certainty response index to each item. This three-tier test was administered to the sample of 462 high school students.Results:The Cronbach alpha reliability for the test was estimated for correct and misconception scores as .75 and .68, respectively. The results of the study suggested that HTIEDT could be used as a valid and reliable test in determining misconceptions about heat, temperature and internal energy concepts.

Using Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Students’ Misconceptions of States of Matter

This study involves the development of a three-tier diagnostic test to measure high school students’ understanding of states of matter concepts. The States of Matter Diagnostic Test (SMDT) is a 19-item three-tier diagnostic test consisting of three-tier items for assessing students’ understanding of states of matter concepts. The SMDT was administered to 195 10th grade high school students in the pilot study and 102 10th grade high school students in the main study. Cronbach alpha reliability indexes for the SMDT were estimated to be .78 and .83 for the pilot and main study, respectively. Point-biserial coefficients ranged from .20 to .69 with an average of .44 for the pilot study and with an average of .49 for the main study.

A Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Pre-Service Teachers’ Misconceptions about Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Layer Depletion, and Acid Rain

This study describes the development and validation of a three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test, the atmosphere-related environmental problems diagnostic test (AREPDiT), to reveal common misconceptions of global warming (GW), greenhouse effect (GE), ozone layer depletion (OLD), and acid rain (AR). The development of a two-tier diagnostic test procedure as described by Treagust constitutes the framework for this study. To differentiate a lack of knowledge from a misconception, a certainty response index is added as a third tier to each item. Based on propositional knowledge statements, related literature, and the identified misconceptions gathered initially from 157 pre-service teachers, the AREPDiT was constructed and administered to 256 pre-service teachers. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the pre-service teachers’ scores was estimated to be 0.74. Content and face validations were established by senior experts. A moderate positive correlation between the participants’ both-tiers scores and their certainty scores indicated evidence for construct validity. Therefore, the AREPDiT is a reliable and valid instrument not only to identify pre-service teachers’ misconceptions about GW, GE, OLD, and AR but also to differentiate these misconceptions from lack of knowledge. The results also reveal that a majority of the respondents demonstrated limited understandings about atmosphere-related environmental problems and held six common misconceptions. Future studies could test the AREPDiT as a tool for assessing the misconceptions held by pre-service teachers from different programs as well as in-service teachers and high school students.

Development of a three-tier test to assess high school students’ understanding of acids and bases

Two-tier tests are such as assessment tools that can make available for teachers/researchers to determine students alternative conceptions and whether a student gives a correct response to a question by understanding the related subject since the secondtier of a test asks for a reason for the first-tier response. The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable three-tier diagnostic test to assess students’ understanding of acids-bases concepts. For developing this test, interviews and open-ended questions were administered to high school students and related literature was reviewed; the findings obtained from these steps construct the three-tier test.