HOW PRIMARY STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF MAGNETISM

Magnets are a part of students’ daily experience, whether within technical devices, souvenirs, toys or included in various school experiments. The aim of this research was to gain insight into the way primary students understand magnetism and to estimate the effect of teaching to the development of concepts about magnetism. For the purpose of this research, a diagnostic knowledge test was designed which includes teaching content about the concept of magnets, their properties, interaction and application. A total of 160 of second, third and fourth grade students attending elementary schools „Siniša Glavašević“ and „Nikola Andrić“ from Vukovar and „Bijelo Brdo“ from Bijelo Brdo, Republic of Croatia, were included in the study. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in knowledge test scores among girls and boys. The knowledge test achievements according to age (second, third and fourth grade) were statistically significant between second and third grade, as well as second and fourth. The difference in test scores between third and fourth grade students was observed, but it was not statistically significant. The analysis of students’ responses according to each test question confirmed the absence of differences according to gender but significant differences according to age, as well as the persistence of some typical misconceptions. The overall level of knowledge test achievement was rather low throughout the sample, indicating that primary students lack sufficient knowledge and that the majority of students fail to completely and accurately answer the questions about magnetic phenomena. Based on the results of this study it could be concluded that the process of developing concepts about magnetism within the course Nature and Society from the second to the fourth grade is insufficiently effective. We recommend that the contents about magnetism should be studied from the very beginning of primary school education. Furthermore, it is necessary to apply innovative teaching methods, strategies and models, while connecting these contents with students’ everyday experiences.