Participants in the research included 11 elementary gifted students in sixth grade. They were interviewed to investigate their understandings of electric circuit using the DSA protocol. The interview was conducted in a room where all necessary materials were prepared on a table for the participant to manipulate. The entire interview took about 1 hour and was videotaped for later analysis. The interview protocol was developed by a group of researchers. The protocol was refined through comments from experts in various fields, including teachers in an elementary school and a physics professor.
The data obtained from the interview came from a videotape of the interview, field notes recorded by the interviewer and two observers, follow-up recollections of the observers, and drawing the students made during the DSA. Subsequent viewings of the videotape allowed us to target key moments in the interview where the students’ statements seemed critical. These areas were transcribed for further analysis and informally coded for grouping with one of the target concepts. From these transcriptions, notes, and video, our research group developed interpretations of the meanings of the statements. The analysis was organized into five separate themes.
We were able to represent the changes that occurred in terms of whether particular conceptions were accurate with respect to scientific conceptions of electric current and electrical resistance, and we were able to classify students with respect to their potential to develop robust conceptions matching scientific knowledge. The key to exhibiting accurate knowledge of resistance for this circuit was recognizing that there were multiple available paths in which current could preferentially flow. This perspective would be much easier for a student with a branching model to take than a student who conceptualized electricity as only flowing along one path; however, the data indicate that having a branching model did not assure such a perspective. Our examination of the assessment data indicated that for all but one student, there were multiple opportunities for developing new understanding, either with respect to current flow or electrical resistance or both. We found that all other students in our simple had multiple opportunities to enter ZPDs on a range of issues related to electric curcuits. Our findings indicate that how Dynamic Science Assessment can help us better understand not only students’ current state of understanding but also a potential development of understanding in their ZPD.