Conceptual-Based Writing Exercises in a Circuit Analysis Course

Contribution: This article describes the implementation, assessment, and evaluation of conceptual-based writing exercises in an introductory course on electric circuit analysis. Background: Students’ struggles in gateway courses such as circuit analysis are often traced to inadequate metacognitive skills on the part of the student as well their misconceptions regarding fundamental phenomena related to the course. Writing is known to be a powerful tool for insight into a student’s thought process and to foster metacognitive activity. Research Questions: What effect does the use of short writing exercises have on students’ understanding of fundamental concepts related to the behavior of electric circuits operating at dc? What effect does the use of the conceptually based writing exercises have on students’ ability to justify their responses when answering conceptual questions related to basic electric circuit concepts? Methodology: In the first semester of the study, a single writing exercise was given and in the second semester, a total of five such exercises were administered. In each semester, students were separated into “at-risk” and “not at-risk” groups based on their responses to the first writing exercise. A
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(2) mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted, with at-risk/not at-risk and semester/semester between-subjects factors and pre-test/post-test on a multiple-choice conceptual-based exam a within-subjects factor. Findings: Results suggest that only the at-risk group may have benefited in terms of deepened conceptual understanding and the ability to justify their responses from the use of multiple conceptual-based writing exercises.