Volume 15, Number 4

Exploring AI Applications for Addressing Alternative Conceptions in Teaching Physics: Focus on Electrical Circuits at the Secondary Level

  Authors

Gabriel Dias De Carvalho Junior¹ and Ivan Targino Ponciano Filho², ¹University of Namur & Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, ²University Vale do Sapucaí, Brazil

  Abstract

This article introduces our initial foray into a comprehensive, long-term study on the learning practices of high school students using chatbots as educational tools. In this section, we explore the correlation between the logic underlying the responses generated by two chatbots for problems related to electrical circuits and the well-known alternative conceptions prevalent in the field of science education. To achieve this, we employed a methodology involving the presentation of ten questions to the chatbots, followed by an analysis of their answers in conjunction with established knowledge in physics and the Theory of Conceptual Fields. The objective was to bridge the gap between AI-generated responses and human responses. Our primary findings reveal a close resemblance between these two groups. This initial endeavor lays the foundation for developing an investigative methodology that will facilitate a comprehensive understanding and categorization of the various forms of interaction between students and chatbots.

  Keywords

science education; learning practices; theory of conceptual fields; AI-generated responses