Pre-service physics teachers' mental models of electric and magnetic field

Within the scope of this study, 22 pre-service physics teachers were selected using maximum variation sampling method and then mental models of these students were determined about electric and magnetic field concepts. In order to identify these models, 10 contexts were formed in total, with five of them being related to electric field and another five contexts being related to magnetic field. All of these contexts were supported with experiment sets and mental models of pre-service teachers were determined before and after the implementation. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to identify these models. The interview data were analysed by using content analysis method. After data analysis the following six mental models related to electric field were determined such as Scientific Model of Electric Field (SMEF), Magnetic-Based Field Model (MBFM), Mechanical Wave Model (MWM), Material Independent Field Model (MIFM), Zero Impact Force Field Model (ZIFFM) and Force-Based Field Model (FBFM) and seven mental models related to magnetic field were determined such as Scientific Model of Magnetic Field (SMMF), Electric-Based Field Model (EBFM), Mechanical Wave Model (MWM), Open Curve Field Model (OCFM), Pseudo Equilibrium Model (PEM), Self-Impact Field Model (SIFM) and Force-Based Field Model (FBFM). Also, pre-service teachers' core books were analyzed by using document analysis to identify possible sources of mental models. The findings indicate that these core books also include many of these unscientific mental models that were identified in this study. Approximately one and a half years after implementations via experiment sets, pre-service physics teachers that are available were interviewed once again over all the contexts to find out whether permanent these identified mental models. Based on interview results, mental models that the participants had following the intervention were found to be permanence enough and time-independent. Keywords: electric field, magnetic field, mental model, permanence, pre-service physics teachers