Evaluating practical methodologies in Scottish certificate level physics: electrical circuits

Electrical circuits are central to high-school physics courses globally. However, it is commonly stated that there are challenges both for educators and students with the abstract nature of the concepts. This action research examines the practical methods used by a group of five teachers when teaching electrical circuits at the National 5 level. Participants attended a workshop to test and evaluate these methods, while group discussions allowed consideration of alternatives. The Current Test Evaluate Ideal Reality (C-TEIR) framework was developed during this research to analyse the workshop notes and conversations and give structure to the findings. The main outcomes were that equipment is sufficient though not ideal, a similar teaching pattern is followed by all participants, and there are concerns over the introduction of electrical circuits at earlier stages of students’ education. Although schools have the components required, there was concern over the quality and cost of replacements, and the lack of technical support for repairs. Teaching of the concepts tends to begin with building circuits, series before parallel. Voltage and current rules were considered before resistance, which followed alongside Ohm’s law. These concepts are core to the understanding of the topic, and this research highlights a need for consideration of when they are introduced, how and by whom.