Developing a three tier misconception test to measure secondary school students' misconceptions about simple electric circuits

Generally, in order to detect misconceptions; Data collection tools such as interviews, open-ended tests, multiple choice tests, and multi-tier misconception diagnostic tests are used. According to the order of development of multi-tier misconception diagnostic tests; it consists of two tier misconception diagnostic tests, three tier misconception diagnostic tests and four tier misconception diagnostic tests. In multi-tier misconception diagnostic tests, generalizability can be provided to the population and it is possible to distinguish between lack of knowledge and misconception. In this study, it was aimed to determine the misconceptions of middle school students about simple electrical circuits by developing a three-tier diagnostic test and it is aimed to determine the extent of the existing misconceptions and knowledge deficiencies on the subject. In order to achieve the aim of the study, 10 (7th and 8th grade) middle school students studying in Genç district of Bingöl province were interviewed. Using the questions asked in the interview form, an open-ended test was administered to 140 (7th and 8th grade) middle school students. The answers given by the students to the open-ended test questions were categorized. The distractors of the three-tier test were created with the high-frequency answers received from the students. At the end of this process, a three-tier diagnostic test (BEDTT) consisting of 7 questions was developed by taking expert opinions and applied to 149 (7th and 8th grade) middle school students. The data collected during the research process were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 22.0 programs. As a result of the research, it has been determined that the students have the sink model, weakening current model, shared current model, empirical rule model, power supply as a constant current source and local reasoning model. In addition, the "shared energy model", which is not encountered in the literature, was detected in the students who formed the study group.