The role of symbols in learners' understanding of direct current resistive electrical circuits in rural and peri-urban schools

Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which learners from rural and peri-urban areas understand what the symbols represent and their roles in simple direct current resistive electrical circuits. The emphasis was on simple direct current resistive electrical circuits that consist of batteries and bulbs. The study was carried out with Grade 12 learners at high school level in the Limpopo Provincial Department of Education. It used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to investigate learners’ understanding of direct current resistive electrical circuits at rural and peri-urban schools. It used questionnaires and structured interviews to collect the data so that the results could provide in-depth understanding and generalizability. The results revealed that learners knew the symbols used in direct current resistive circuits, however, when the circuit was populated with a number of known symbols it became complex to such an extent that some learners struggled to identify the symbols. As it appeared, learners could not conceptualize the role played by a battery, conductor, ammeter and voltmeter in direct current resistive electrical circuit. In addition, the study also revealed that learners experience difficulties when translating a real circuit to a schematic circuit. This study suggests that deeper focus has to be directed towards developing leaners’ understanding of the working and role played by each symbol in a schematic circuit. Learners were operating at far lower conceptual basis and thought of conductor as a hollow pipe like material. Results were also compared in terms of geographical location of the school, and findings indicate that the rural school was performing better than peri-urban school. The results highlight a number of the frequently encountered alternative frameworks which learners come across when they are faced with schematic circuit diagrams. Most of the alternative frameworks found are well documented in literature (for example current consumption, difficulty with understanding electric concepts, difficulty with concept differentiation, and no firm alternative frameworks). vi The participants in this study were not exposed to practical work. This suggests the results might be different with learners exposed to practical work. It is therefore recommended that future studies look at the understanding of the role played by individual electrical components with learners who had practical experience with real electrical circuits. Majority of learners in this study could not communicate their scientific conclusions using English, as the English is their second language.