Electrostatics, Structured Inquiry, Multiple representations, Conceptual Change
Many physicists, such as Faraday and Maxwell, developed the ideas that would become
what is known as the field primacy theoretical framework (Pocovi & Finley, 2003).
Students in upper second level physics education in Ireland are introduced to some of the
ideas related to this framework when studying electric fields, and are required to represent
them using both vector arrows and field lines (NCCA, 1999). However, it has been shown
that numerous student difficulties are present in their understanding of the field model at
both second level and third level (Galili, 1993; Törnkvist, et al., 1993; Cao & Brizuela,
2016).This paper presents findings from a case study completed with 14 upper second level
students in Ireland, in which structured inquiry tutorials and multiple representations were
used to help students develop their conceptual understanding of field lines. Pre-test and
post-tests comparisons were used to identify student difficulties and to determine the
extent to which conceptual change occurred (Hewson, 1992). Excerpts from the tutorial
lessons are presented in this study to illustrate instances in which conceptual change was
observed, based on the necessary conditions set out by Posner et al. (1982). Implications
for teaching, focusing on the use of structured inquiry in the upper second level classroom
are discussed.