A cross sectional survey about students’ agreement rates on non-scientific ideas concerning the concept of magnet

Abstract

The present study aims to find out the agreement rates of students on non-scientific ideas concerning the concept of magnet with a cross sectional survey. A total of 436 students studying in the final years of elementary (n=113), middle (n=110), high school (n=105) and university (n=108) participated in the study. Data were collected with the help of a concept test. Quantitative methods were utilized in data analyses. According to the results, students were found to agree with non-scientific ideas in different percentages in each educational level. Most of those non-scientific ideas were prevalent misconceptions in the literature. The least percentages of agreements were detected among university students. Besides, five different mental models were presented to explain the cognitive structures of the students related to their agreements. Several recommendations were provided to consider in future studies at the end of the study.