Determining teacher candidates? concept images about electric circuits via repertory grid and concept maps

The aim of this research was to determine teacher candidates? images about electric circuits via repertory grid technique and concept maps. The research was conducted with three master students. Two sessions were made each student. In first session, student made up a concept map about electricity. For helping students, the researcher served twenty one concepts about electricity. In second session, the researcher employed two research methods, namely the Repertory Grid technique and individual interviews. In repertory grid, 12 elements related to direct current circuits were selected and these elements were translated into physical grids that the students could comprehend by the researcher. The students were asked to fill in the grid by means of rating from 1 to 5. The computer program named Gridsuite4 and qualitative methods were followed in the analysis of the students? grid. Individual interviews were analyzed by descriptive analysis methodology. The research found out that the repertory grid technique reveals the concept image of the students about simple electrical circuits. Three misconceptions of the students about short circuit were identified. These misconceptions are:1) assigning the properties of current to voltage,2) current is the cause of the voltage,3) when short circuit occur, energy of battery does not changeKeywords: repertory grid technique, concept maps, physics education, simple electricity circuits