Abstract:

Experimental work is an important part of science lessons. During experimental work, students develop their skills, their ability to organise their own work, prepare and tidy up their work area and equipment. They learn about different tools and devices and recognize and assess contents which can be scientifically inquired, define the inquiry problem, plan and perform inquiry-based learning. Experimental work contributes significantly to the development of students' scientific literacy which encompasses scientific knowledge, scientific skills and an attitude towards science.

Prospective primary school teachers who teach science to pupils aged 6-11 must be scientifically literate. During their studies, they carry out experimental work, plan research and learn about a range of experiments on a specific curriculum topic. The assessment of experimental work is therefore very important. As the number of students in the Primary Education programme at the University of Ljubljana is large, the assessment of experimental work is a challenge for practitioners. The experimental work is examined and assessed as one of the two parts of the examination (theoretical part and experimental part). In the experimental part, students are given 3 series of aids with which they solve 3 experimental tasks.

We present the implementation of a crowdsourced assessment of experimental work on the topic of electricity and a corresponding survey conducted among 52 students in the Primary Education Programme at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education. We were interested in how well the students solve the experimental tasks, how they handle the devices and teaching aids on electricity, what kind of electrical circuits they build according to the given diagram and how well they connect the ammeter and voltmeter to the electrical circuit. The data was collected using knowledge tests and photos of assembled electrical circuits. The results show that 80% of the students successfully assembled the circuit, but that they had considerable difficulty placing the measuring devices in the circuit and reading the voltage and current values (43% of the students were successful). It turned out that the students had the greatest difficulty in applying the measured values in further tasks and understanding how the circuit works.

Keywords:

Education, science, assessment, experimental work, electricity.