The Determination of the Mental Models of Pre-Service Science Teachers about Electrical Conductivity of the Metals

The subject of the electricity is one of the main subjects included in the curriculum of all grades starting with the 3rd grade in elementary school. Although it is a subject encountered from the elementary education to university education, the electricity is also a subject which is very difficult to understand for students. The purpose of this study is to explore the pre-service science teachers’ mental models about “the electrical conductivity of the metals”. The study is a descriptive study and it is carried out via case study research design. The study was carried out with the first year Science Teaching students (66 students) studying at Education Faculty in Mu？la S？tk？ Ko？man University in the spring term of 2016-2017 academic year. The data collection tool developed by Kibble (1999) was used to detect the pre-service teachers’ mental models related to “the electrical conductivity of the metals”. When the students’ responses to the data collection tool and their drawings were examined, it was observed that the evaluation at macro and micro levels was much more suitable. The identified models at macro level with students are the resistance model, flowing the waters model (the straight flow arrow) and the energy model, the plus-minus the electrical charge model and the motion of the electrons model were observed at micro level